Weakly perturbative imaging of interfacial water with submolecular resolution by atomic force microscopy.

ABSTRACT: Scanning probe microscopy has been extensively applied to probe interfacial water in many interdisciplinary fields but the disturbance of the probes on the hydrogen-bonding structure of water has remained an intractable problem. Here, we report submolecular-resolution imaging of the water clusters on a NaCl(001) surface within the nearly noninvasive region by a qPlus-based noncontact atomic force microscopy. Comparison with theoretical simulations reveals that the key lies in probing the weak high-order electrostatic force between the quadrupole-like CO-terminated tip and the polar water molecules at large tip-water distances. This interaction allows the imaging and structural determination of the weakly bonded water clusters and even of their metastable states with negligible disturbance.

SUBMITTER: Peng J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5760619 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature