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research article

The interfacial structure of water droplets in a hydrophobic liquid

Smolentsev, Nikolay  
•
Smit, Wilbert J.
•
Bakker, Huib J.
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2017
Nature Communications

Nanoscopic and microscopic water droplets and ice crystals embedded in liquid hydrophobic surroundings are key components of aerosols, rocks, oil fields and the human body. The chemical properties of such droplets critically depend on the interfacial structure of the water droplet. Here we report the surface structure of 200 nm-sized water droplets in mixtures of hydrophobic oils and surfactants as obtained from vibrational sum frequency scattering measurements. The interface of a water droplet shows significantly stronger hydrogen bonds than the air/water or hexane/water interface and previously reported planar liquid hydrophobic/water interfaces at room temperature. The observed spectral difference is similar to that of a planar air/water surface at a temperature that is ∼50 K lower. Supercooling the droplets to 263 K does not change the surface structure. Below the homogeneous ice nucleation temperature, a single vibrational mode is present with a similar mean hydrogen-bond strength as for a planar ice/air interface.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1038/ncomms15548
Web of Science ID

WOS:000401961600001

Author(s)
Smolentsev, Nikolay  
Smit, Wilbert J.
Bakker, Huib J.
Roke, Sylvie  
Date Issued

2017

Publisher

Springer Nature

Published in
Nature Communications
Volume

8

Article Number

15548

Note

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LBP  
Available on Infoscience
May 4, 2017
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/137056
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