Wetting of a Hydrophobic Surface: Far-IR Action Spectroscopy and Dynamics of Microhydrated Naphthalene.

ABSTRACT: The interaction of water and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is of fundamental importance in areas as diverse as materials science and atmospheric and interstellar chemistry. The interplay between hydrogen bonding and dipole-π interactions results in subtle dynamics that are challenging to describe from first principles. Here, we employ far-IR action vibrational spectroscopy with the infrared free-electron laser FELIX to investigate naphthalene with one to three water molecules. We observe diffuse bands associated with intermolecular vibrational modes that serve as direct probes of the loose binding of water to the naphthalene surface. These signatures are poorly reproduced by static DFT or Møller-Plesset computations. Instead, a rationalization is achieved through Born-Oppenheimer Molecu

SUBMITTER: Lemmens AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10711790 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature