Structuration of aqueous interfaces by Terahertz pulses: A study by Second Harmonic and Sum Frequency Generation

ended

Interfaces of water and aqueous solutions play a prominent role in many technological and natural processes. The liquid/solid interface is the main driver for many electrochemical reactions. Water being present everywhere, the fields of applications are numerous. The adsorption and release of various gases by the oceans and rain droplets is one of them. The aim of this project is to study the interactions between water and charged interfaces. We will establish an advanced nonlinear optical spectroscopy setup and combine it with terahertz excitation, thus revealing the vibrational properties of the interface and controlling the surface charge via the terahertz electromagnetic field. We will first develop and validate the technique on water and will then proceed in applying the technique to study various aqueous interfaces such as fatty acid/water systems, lipid/water interface, mineral oxide/water interfaces.