The Interaction of Water with Solid Surfaces: Fundamental Aspects Revisited

Water is perhaps the most important and most pervasive chemical on our planet. The influence of water permeates virtually all areas of biochemical, chemical and physical importance, and is especially evident in phenomena occurring at the interfaces of solid surfaces. Since 1987, when Thiel and Madey (TM) published their review titled ‘The interaction of water with solid surfaces: fundamental aspects’ in Surface Science Reports, there has been considerable progress made in further understanding the fundamental interactions of water with solid surfaces. In the decade and a half, the increased capability of surface scientists to probe at the molecular-level has resulted in more detailed information of the properties of water on progressively more complicated materials and under more stringent conditions. This progress in understanding the properties of water on solid surfaces is evident both in areas for which surface science methodology has traditionally been strong (catalysis and electronic materials) and also in new areas not traditionally studied by surface scientists such as electrochemistry, photoconversion, mineralogy, adhesion, sensors, atmospheric chemistry and tribology. Researchers in all these fields grapple with very basic questions regarding the interactions of water with solid surfaces such as how is water adsorbed, what are the chemical and electrostatic forces that constitute the adsorbed layer, how is water thermally or non-thermally activated and how do coadsorbates influence these properties of water. The attention paid to these and other fundamental questions in the past decade and a half has been immense. In this review, experimental studies published since the TM review are assimilated with those covered by TM to provide a current picture of the fundamental interactions of water with solid surfaces.

This paper presents nanoscopic aspects of electronic aging in dielectrics, as the result of the interaction of excess non-thermalized carriers with the media. Hot electrons are hypothesized as the major source of non-thermal carriers and shown to be a decisive factor in electrical breakdown. The interaction of hot electrons with atomic and molecular solids forming dielectric films is investigated using high-resolution monochromatic electron beam and cryogenic techniques. In these experiments, electrons of a well-defined energy impinge on a dielectric nanometer-thick film grown at cryogenic temperatures in an ultra-high vacuum system. It is possible to observe directly the species created at specific energies by hot (i.e. low-energy) electrons within the range 0 to 20 eV; including highly reactive radicals, positive and negative ions and excited atoms and molecules, as well as the new compounds that result from non-thermal reactions. Energy losses to electronic, vibrational and phonon excitation also can be measured as a function of electron energy. The results of these experiments are reviewed. They serve to explain the creation of local defects, which then can act as inter- and intramolecular (or atomic) traps for electrons and holes in inhomogeneous media. This nanoscale information also allows one to identify the effects of the polaron and that of cumulative material damage and increases in leakage currents, observed on the macroscopic scale. More particularly, it is shown from the results of low-energy electron bombardment of slices of PE HV cables, that simpler molecular solids such as n-alkane films provide insight on the effect of 'hot' electrons in commercial insulating material. Recommendations are given for further research necessary to represent the evolution of the aging process in practical macroscopic materials of interest at the engineering level.

Nanoscopic aspects of electronic aging in dielectrics

Temperature-programmed desorption of water from fumed silica, silica/titania, and silica/alumina

Results of a study of electron transfer processes in the interaction of fluorine and hydrogen with Ag(111) are reported for a wide range of interaction times. For long interaction times the yield of ${\mathrm{H}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$, resulting from resonant electron exchange, is larger than expected for a jelliumlike metal surface with a similar work function. For short interaction times, the yields follow the trend for jelliumlike surfaces. These results confirm the predictions of the theoretical work [Borisov et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 1996 (1998)] on electron transfer on surfaces with an $L$ band gap. In the case of ${\mathrm{F}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$, significant effects were, however, not observed.

Interaction Time Dependence of Electron Tunneling Processes between an Atom and a Surface

We present the first systematic study of the transmission of low energy oxygen ions ([lt]10 eV) through ultrathin films of Ar, Kr, and Xe. For rare gas films adsorbed on an oxidized W(100) surface, we find that a small fraction of O[sup +] can penetrate more than 5 ML thick films of Kr and Xe. The attenuation of O[sup +] is strongest for Ar overlayers. We attribute the attenutation to elastic scattering mainly of the ions with the rare gas atoms. We suggest that structural characteristics of rare gas films adsorbed on this surface are the cause for low attenuation in the first 1-2 monolayers.

Transmission of low energy (<10 eV) O+ ions through several monolayer thick rare gas films.

We present a systematic study of the transmission of low-energy (10 eV) ${\mathrm{O}}^{+}$ ions through ultrathin films of Ar, Kr, and Xe. The ions are produced by electron-stimulated desorption from an oxidized W(100) crystal; they desorb from the surface in directions close to the surface normal with a peak kinetic energy of \ensuremath{\sim}7 eV and their yield, mass/energy, and angle are measured with a digital electron-stimulated desorption ion angular distribution (ESDIAD) detector. Rare gases are condensed at \ensuremath{\sim}25 K onto the oxidized W(100) crystal and their film thickness is determined by means of thermal-desorption spectroscopy. The ${\mathrm{O}}^{+}$ ions desorbed in the presence of a rare-gas film have to pass through the film before reaching the detector. We find that 10% of ${\mathrm{O}}^{+}$ can be transmitted through 1.6 atomic layers of Ar, 2.9 ML of Kr, and 4.0 ML of Xe. From the ${\mathrm{O}}^{+}$ signal attenuation by films thicker than 2 ML we derive attenuation cross sections of 6.0\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}15}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ for Ar, 2.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}15}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ for Kr, and 1.5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}15}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ for Xe. For Xe, we observe indications that the angular distribution of the ions changes due to large-angle scattering, and for Kr (and previously for Xe) we measure a shift in the energy distribution towards lower energies; we interpret this to be due to elastic forward scattering of the oxygen ions by the Xe atoms.We attribute the attenuation of the ${\mathrm{O}}^{+}$ in the films mainly to elastic backscattering; we suggest that either a high neutralization probability of ${\mathrm{O}}^{+}$ in the Ar film (charge transfer) or an Ar structure different from fcc (such as blocking of ${\mathrm{O}}^{+}$ by Ar) is the reason for the strong attenuation of ${\mathrm{O}}^{+}$ in Ar. We find greater attenuation per monolayer for thicker films than for the first monolayer; we correlate this with the fcc structure of the rare-gas films. We discuss the energy loss of the primary electrons in the rare-gas film, the effect of the adsorption of rare gases on the electron-stimulated desorption process, and the possibility of preferential ${\mathrm{O}}^{+}$ desorption through channels in the rare-gas film. We draw conclusions from our results concerning the depth of origin of secondary ions desorbed under the influence of electron, photon, or ion radiation.

Transmission of low-energy o+ ions through ultrathin films of ar, kr, and xe

We report on the transmission of F+ and F− ions through ultrathin films of condensed water at 20 K, and compare the experimental results with theoretical calculations. The F+ and F− ions are produced by ESD (electron stimulated desorption) of a PF3 monolayer adsorbed on a Ru(0001) surface (PF3/Ru(0001) surface). We find two surprising results: (a) the off-normal F+ signal is attenuated to ∼1% by only ∼2.5 monolayer (ML) of H2O, while a much thicker layer, ∼10 ML of H2O, is necessary for equivalent attenuation of the F− ion emission, and (b) 1 ML of H2O increases the emission of F− ions and causes a dramatic change in the ion angular distribution. The striking changes in the angular distribution of F− ions transmitted through condensed H2O films indicate that elastic scattering is an important process in determining the attenuation of F− by H2O. No direct evidence for any kind of ion–molecule chemical reaction or collision induced dissociation reaction has been found. The strong attenuation of F+ without s...

Low energy (<5 eV) F+ and F− ion transmission through condensed layers of water

Low energy (<5 eV) F+ and F- ion transmission through condensed layers of water: Enhancement and attenuation processes.

We have studied the transmission of low energy (<10 eV) 16O+ ions through ultrathin films of condensed molecular solids, NH3 and H218O, in order to address the fundamental scattering processes that occur in the desorption of ions from below the surface of solids. 16O+ ions with a peak energy of ∼7 eV and a narrow angular distribution [full‐width at half‐maximum (FWHM) ∼15°] are generated by means of electron stimulated desorption (ESD) from an 16O oxidized W(100) surface and their yield, energy and angular distribution are measured with a digital ESDIAD (ESD ion angular distribution) detector. Ultrathin NH3 and H218O films of known thickness are condensed on the oxidized surface at 25 K and changes in the ion yield, energy and angular distribution are observed as a function of coverage. We find that adsorption of only 0.5 monolayer of H218O is enough to suppress the 16O+ ion emission by a factor of 100, while three monolayers of NH3 are necessary for equivalent suppression of the 16O+ ion emission. The an...

Transmission of low energy (<10 eV) 16O+ ions through condensed ammonia and water overlayers

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

M. Akbulut

Author Tools

Chat about Author