Iodine plays a key role in tropospheric ozone destruction, atmospheric new particle formation, as well as growth. Air–water interface happens to be an important reaction site pertaining to such phenomena. However, except iodide (I–), the behavior of other iodine species, for example, triiodide (I3 –) and iodate (IO3 –, the most abundant iodine species in seawater) at the aqueous interface and their effect on the interfacial water are largely unknown. Using interface-specific vibrational spectroscopy (heterodyne-detected vibrational sum frequency generation), we recorded the imaginary-χ(2) spectra (Imχ(2); χ(2) is the second-order electric susceptibility in OH stretch region) of the air–water interface in the presence of IO3 –, I3 –, and I– (≤0.3 M) in the aqueous subphase. The Imχ(2) spectra reveal that the chaotropic I3 – is the most surface-active anion among the iodine species studied and decreases the vibrational coupling and hydrogen-bonding of interfacial water. Interestingly, the IO3 –, even being a kosmotrope, is quite prevalent in the interfacial region and preferentially orients the interfacial water as “H-down” (i.e., water dipole moment is pointed toward the bulk water). Mapping of the OH stretch response of ion-affected water at interface (i.e., ΔImχ(2) = Imχ(2) air–water−iodine salt – Imχ(2) air–water) with that in the hydration shell of the respective ion (hydration shell water response is obtained by Raman multivariate curve resolution spectroscopy) reveals a correlative link between the ion’s influence on the interfacial water and their hydration shell structure. The distinct water structure of stronger as well as weaker H-bonding in the hydration shell of the polyatomic IO3 – anion promotes the anion to stay at the interfacial region. Thus, the surface prevalence of the iodine species and their effect on the interfacial water are perceived to be crucial for the transfer of iodine from seawater to the atmosphere across the marine boundary layer and the chemistry of iodine at aqueous aerosol surface.

Hydration of metal ions is critical to their adsorption, complexation, and discharge but remained elusive due to counterion interference. We introduce Raman difference spectroscopy with simultaneous curve fitting (RD-SCF) analysis to quantitatively retrieve the counterion-free OH stretch spectra of water in the hydration shell of various metal ions such as

Hydration of ions plays a crucial role in interionic interactions and associated processes in aqueous media, but selective probing of the hydration shell water is nontrivial. Here, we introduce Raman difference with simultaneous curve fitting (RD-SCF) analysis to extract the OH-stretch spectrum of hydration shell water, not only for the fully hydrated ions (Mg2+, La3+, and Cl–) but also for the ion pairs. RD-SCF analyses of diluted MgCl2 (0.18 M) and LaCl3 (0.12 M) solutions relative to aqueous NaCl of equivalent Cl– concentrations provide the OH-stretch spectra of water in the hydration shells of fully hydrated Mg2+ and La3+ cations relative to that of Na+. Integrated intensities of the hydration shell spectra of Mg2+ and La3+ ions increase linearly with the salt concentration (up to 2.0 M MgCl2 and 1.3 M LaCl3), which suggests no contact ion pair (CIP) formation in the MgCl2 and LaCl3 solutions. Nevertheless, the band shapes of the cation hydration shell spectra show a growing signature of Cl–-associated water with the rising salt concentration, which is a manifestation of the formation of a solvent-shared ion pair (SSIP). The OH-stretch spectrum of the shared/intervening water in the SSIP, retrieved by second-round RD-SCF analysis (2RD-SCF), shows that the average H-bonding of the shared water is weaker than that of the hydration water of the fully hydrated cation (Mg2+ or La3+) but stronger than that of the anion (Cl–). The shared water displays an overall second-order dependence on the concentration of the interacting ions, unveiling 1:1 stoichiometry of the SSIP formed between Mg2+ and Cl– as well as La3+ and Cl–.