Spiers Memorial Lecture: Vibrations at interfaces

Abstract

As the transition region between bulk phases, interfaces are of crucial importance for a wide range of natural and technological fields, including heterogeneous catalysis, nucleation and growth, and wetting. As such, there is a great interest in understanding the molecular structure and properties of interfaces to develop and advance technological applications. Vibrational spectroscopy is a powerful tool to assess the molecular structure and environment. However, spectroscopic studies of interfaces can be challenging, since the interfacial region is usually small compared to the contacting bulk phases, leading to small signals and selectivity problems. In this introductory chapter to the Faraday Discussion “Vibrations at Interfaces”, we discuss selected examples to highlight how these challenges can be overcome to study interfaces using vibrational spectroscopy and which research questions can be answered.