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- Björneholm, Olle, et al.
(författare)
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Deeper Insight into Depth-Profiling of Aqueous Solutions Using Photoelectron Spectroscopy
- 2014
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Ingår i: Journal of Physical Chemistry C. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1932-7447 .- 1932-7455. ; 118:50, s. 29333-29339
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is widely used to probe properties such as molecular stoichiometry, microscopic distributions relative to the surface by so-called depth-profiling, and molecular orientation. Such studies usually rely on the core-level photoionization cross sections being independent of molecular composition. The validity of this assumption has recently been questioned, as a number of gas-phase molecules have been shown to exhibit photon-energy-dependent nonstochiometric intensity oscillations arising from EXAFS-like modulations of the photoionization cross section. We have studied this phenomenon in trichloroethanol in both gas phase and dissolved in water. The gas-phase species exhibits pronounced intensity oscillations, similar to the ones observed for other gas-phase molecules. These oscillations are also observed for the dissolved species, implying that the effect has to be taken into account when performing depth-profiling experiments of solutions and other condensed matter systems. The similarity between the intensity oscillations for gas phase and dissolved species allows us to determine the photoelectron kinetic energy of maximum surface sensitivity, approximate to 100 eV, which lies in the range of pronounced intensity oscillations.
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2. |
- Werner, Josephina, et al.
(författare)
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Succinic acid in aqueous solution : connecting microscopic surface composition and macroscopic surface tension
- 2014
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Ingår i: Physical Chemistry, Chemical Physics - PCCP. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1463-9076 .- 1463-9084. ; 16:39, s. 21486-21495
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)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.
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3. |
- Werner, Josephina, et al.
(författare)
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Surface Behavior of Hydrated Guanidinium and Ammonium Ions : A Comparative Study by Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Molecular Dynamics
- 2014
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Ingår i: Journal of Physical Chemistry B. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-6106 .- 1520-5207. ; 118:25, s. 7119-7127
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)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 Is 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.
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