Potential-Induced Adsorption and Structuring of Water at the Pt(111) Electrode Surface in Contact with an Ionic Liquid

J Phys Chem Lett. 2020 Sep 3;11(17):7116-7121. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c02037. Epub 2020 Aug 18.

Abstract

Water adsorption is important in many fields from surface electrochemistry to electrocatalysis, where molecular-level information is much needed in order to gain a detailed understanding of the role of interfacial water. Here we report on water at Pt(111) surfaces in contact with an [EIMIM][BF4] ionic liquid, which was spectroscopically resolved by using in situ sum-frequency generation (SFG). O-H modes are used to study water adsorption and water structure as a function of electrode potential, while the analysis of C-H modes is used to infer orientational changes of [EMIM] cations at the interface. Different from the bulk where free water molecules are found, SFG spectra provide evidence that an interfacial layer with an extended network of hydrogen-bonded water molecules exists and grows with increasing absolute potential which is used to identify the potential of zero charge at +0.1 V SHE, where a pronounced minimum in O-H intensity is found.