The vapor−liquid interface of aqueous inorganic acid and salt solutions are examined using sum frequency
generation (SFG). The results show that the SFG intensity of hydrogen-bonded water on 0.01x acid (HCl,
HNO3, and H2SO4) solutions, where x = mole fraction, is greatly enhanced compared to the 0.01x solution
of the corresponding salts (NaCl, NaNO3, and KHSO4). This suggests that either surface water molecules on
the acid solutions orient with the dipole in a more vertically aligned fashion than those on the salt solutions
or that more layers of water are ordered. These results are interpreted with an electric double layer model, in
which the double layer is composed of subsurface anions and cations. The weak association of protons, as
opposed to Na+ or K+, with anions results in a greater electric field at the surface on acid solutions. The
perturbation of surface water on ionic solutions is discussed in terms of electrostatic and displacement
mechanisms.
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