ABSTRACT
Previous studies have shown that the water-air interface and a number of water molecule layers just below it, the surface region, have significantly different physico-chemical properties, such as lower relative permittivity and density, than bulk water. The properties in the surface region of water favor weakly hydrated species as neutral molecules, while ions requiring strong hydration and shielding of their charge are disfavored. In this study the equilibria NH4+(aq) + RCOO-(aq) â NH3(aq) + RCOOH(aq) are investigated for R = CnH2n+1, n = 0-8, as open systems, where ammonia and small carboxylic acids in the gas phase above the water surface are removed from the system by a gentle controlled flow of nitrogen to mimic the transport of volatile compounds from water droplets into air. It is shown that this non-equilibrium transport of chemicals can be sufficiently large to cause a change of the chemical content of the aqueous bulk. Furthermore, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has been used to determine the relative concentration of alkyl carboxylic acids and their conjugated alkyl carboxylates in aqueous surfaces using a micro-jet. These studies confirm that neutral alkyl carboxylic acids are accumulated in the surface region, while charged species, as alkyl carboxylates, are depleted. The XPS studies show also that the hydrophobic alkyl chains are oriented upwards into regions with lower relative permittivity and density, thus perpendicular to the aqueous surface. These combined results show that there are several chemical equilibria between the aqueous bulk and the surface region. The analytical studies show that the release of mainly ammonia is dependent on its concentration in the surface region, as long as the solubility of the carboxylic acid in the surface region is sufficiently high to avoid a precipitation in/on the water-air interface. However, for n-octyl- and n-nonylcarboxylic acid the solubility is sufficiently low to cause precipitation. The combined analytical and surface speciation studies in this work show that the equilibria involving the surface region are fast. The results from this study increase the knowledge about the distribution of chemical species in the surface region at and close to the water-air interface, and the transport of chemicals from water to air in open systems.
ABSTRACT
Surface affinity, orientation and ion pairing are investigated in mixed and single solute systems of aqueous sodium hexanoate and hexylammonium chloride. The surface sensitive X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy technique has been used to acquire the experimental results, while the computational data have been calculated using molecular dynamics simulations. By comparing the single solute solutions with the mixed one, we observe a non-linear surface enrichment and reorientation of the organic ions with their alkyl chains pointing out of the aqueous surface. We ascribe this effect to ion paring between the charged functional groups on the respective organic ion and hydrophobic expulsion of the alkyl chains from the surface in combination with van der Waals interactions between the alkyl chains. These cooperative effects lead to a substantial surface enrichment of organic ions, with consequences for aerosol surface properties.
ABSTRACT
Acid-base equilibria of carboxylic acids and alkyl amines in the aqueous surface region were studied using surface-sensitive X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations. Solutions of these organic compounds were examined as a function of pH, concentration and chain length to investigate the distribution of acid and base form in the surface region as compared to the aqueous bulk. Results from these experiments show that the neutral forms of the studied acid-base pairs are strongly enriched in the aqueous surface region. Moreover, we show that for species with at least four carbon atoms in their alkyl-chain, their charged forms are also found to be abundant in the surface region. Using a combination of XPS and MD results, a model is proposed that effectively describes the surface composition. Resulting absolute surface concentration estimations show clearly that the total organic mole fractions in the surface region change drastically as a function of solution pH. The origin of the observed surface phenomena, hydronium/hydroxide concentrations in the aqueous surface region and why standard chemical equations, used to describe equilibria in dilute bulk solution are not valid in the aqueous surface region, are discussed in detail. The reported results are of considerable importance especially for the detailed understanding of properties of small aqueous droplets that can be found in the atmosphere.
ABSTRACT
Surface affinity of aqueous guanidinium chloride (GdmCl) is compared to that of aqueous tetrapropylammonium chloride (TPACl) upon addition of sodium chloride (NaCl) or disodium sulfate (Na2SO4). The experimental results have been acquired using the surface sensitive technique X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy on a liquid jet. Molecular dynamics simulations have been used to produce radial distribution functions and surface density plots. The surface affinities of both TPA+ and Gdm+ increase upon adding NaCl to the solution. With the addition of Na2SO4, the surface affinity of TPA+ increases, while that of Gdm+ decreases. From the results of MD simulations it is seen that Gdm+ and SO42- ions form pairs. This finding can be used to explain the decreased surface affinity of Gdm+ when co-dissolved with SO42- ions. Since SO42- ions avoid the surface due to the double charge and strong water interaction, the Gdm+-SO42- ion pair resides deeper in the solutions' bulk than the Gdm+ ions. Since TPA+ does not form ion pairs with SO42-, the TPA+ ions are instead enriched at the surface.
ABSTRACT
Atmospheric particulate matter is one of the main factors governing the Earth's radiative budget, but its exact effects on the global climate are still uncertain. Knowledge on the molecular-scale surface phenomena as well as interactions between atmospheric organic and inorganic compounds is necessary for understanding the role of airborne nanoparticles in the Earth system. In this work, surface composition of aqueous model systems containing succinic acid and sodium chloride or ammonium sulfate is determined using a novel approach combining X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, surface tension measurements and thermodynamic modeling. It is shown that succinic acid molecules are accumulated in the surface, yielding a 10-fold surface concentration as compared with the bulk for saturated succinic acid solutions. Inorganic salts further enhance this enrichment due to competition for hydration in the bulk. The surface compositions for various mixtures are parametrized to yield generalizable results and used to explain changes in surface tension. The enhanced surface partitioning implies an increased maximum solubility of organic compounds in atmospheric nanoparticles. The results can explain observations of size-dependent phase-state of atmospheric nanoparticles, suggesting that these particles can display drastically different behavior than predicted by bulk properties only.
Subject(s)
Particulate Matter/chemistry , Solutions , Aerosols/chemistry , Ammonium Sulfate/chemistry , NanoparticlesABSTRACT
The interfaces of neat water and aqueous solutions play a prominent role in many technological processes and in the environment. Examples of aqueous interfaces are ultrathin water films that cover most hydrophilic surfaces under ambient relative humidities, the liquid/solid interface which drives many electrochemical reactions, and the liquid/vapor interface, which governs the uptake and release of trace gases by the oceans and cloud droplets. In this article we review some of the recent experimental and theoretical advances in our knowledge of the properties of aqueous interfaces and discuss open questions and gaps in our understanding.
ABSTRACT
The acid-base speciation of surface-active carboxylate ions in the surface region of aqueous solutions was studied with synchrotron-radiation-based photoelectron spectroscopy. The protonated form was found at an extraordinarily large fraction compared to that expected from the bulk pH. When adding salts containing the weak acid NH4(+) to the solution, the fraction of the acidic form at the surface increases, and to a much greater extent than expected from the bulk pH of the solution. We show that ammonium ions also are overrepresented in the surface region, and propose that the interaction between the surface-active anionic carboxylates and cationic ammonium ions creates a carboxylate-ammonium bilayer close to the surface, which increases the probability of the protonation of the carboxylate ions. By comparing the situation when a salt of the less volatile amine diethanolamine is used, we also show that the observed evaporation of ammonia that occurs after such an event only affects the equilibrium marginally.
ABSTRACT
The water-vapor interface of aqueous solutions of succinic acid, where pH values and bulk concentrations were varied, has been studied using surface sensitive X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. It was found that succinic acid has a considerably higher propensity to reside in the aqueous surface region than its deprotonated form, which is effectively depleted from the surface due to the two strongly hydrated carboxylate groups. From both XPS experiments and MD simulations a strongly increased concentration of the acid form in the surface region compared to the bulk concentration was found and quantified. Detailed analysis of the surface of succinic acid solutions at different bulk concentrations led to the conclusion that succinic acid saturates the aqueous surface at high bulk concentrations. With the aid of MD simulations the thickness of the surface layer could be estimated, which enabled the quantification of surface concentration of succinic acid as a multiple of the known bulk concentration. The obtained enrichment factors were successfully used to model the surface tension of these binary aqueous solutions using two different models that account for the surface enrichment. This underlines the close correlation of increased concentration at the surface relative to the bulk and reduced surface tension of aqueous solutions of succinic acid. The results of this study shed light on the microscopic origin of surface tension, a macroscopic property. Furthermore, the impact of the results from this study on atmospheric modeling is discussed.
ABSTRACT
Through the combination of surface sensitive photoelectron spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulation, the relative surface propensities of guanidinium and ammonium ions in aqueous solution are characterized. The fact that the N 1s binding energies differ between these two species was exploited to monitor their relative surface concentration through their respective photoemission intensities. Aqueous solutions of ammonium and guanidinium chloride, and mixtures of these salts, have been studied in a wide concentration range, and it is found that the guanidinium ion has a greater propensity to reside at the aqueous surface than the ammonium ion. A large portion of the relative excess of guanidinium ions in the surface region of the mixed solutions can be explained by replacement of ammonium ions by guanidinium ions in the surface region in combination with a strong salting-out effect of guanidinium by ammonium ions at increased concentrations. This interpretation is supported by molecular dynamics simulations, which reproduce the experimental trends very well. The simulations suggest that the relatively higher surface propensity of guanidinium compared with ammonium ions is due to the ease of dehydration of the faces of the almost planar guanidinium ion, which allows it to approach the water-vapor interface oriented parallel to it.
