Molecular
level information about thermodynamic variations (enthalpy,
entropy, and free energy) of a gas molecule as it crosses a gas–liquid
interface is strongly lacking from an experimental perspective under
equilibrium conditions. Herein, we perform in situ measurements of water interacting with the ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium
acetate, [C4mim][Ace], using ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron
spectroscopy in order to assess the interfacial uptake of water quantitatively
as a function of temperature, pressure, and water mole fraction (x
w). The surface spectroscopy results are compared
to existing bulk water absorption experiments, showing that the amount
of water in the interfacial region is consistently greater than that
in the bulk. The enthalpy and entropy of water sorption vary significantly
between the gas–liquid interface and the bulk as a function
of x
w, with a crossover that occurs near x
w = 0.6 where the water–IL mixture converts
from being homogeneous (x
w < 0.6) to
nanostructured (x
w > 0.6). Free energy
results reveal that water at the gas–IL interface is thermodynamically
more favorable than that in the bulk, consistent with the enhanced
water concentration in the interfacial region. The results herein
show that the efficacy for an ionic liquid to absorb a gas phase molecule
is not merely a function of bulk solvation parameters but also is
significantly influenced by the thermodynamics occurring across the
gas–IL interface during the mass transfer process.