Icelike Water Monolayer Adsorbed on Mica at Room Temperature

Abstract

The structure of a water film formed on mica at room temperature, in equilibrium with water vapor at various relative humidities (RH), was studied using sum-frequency-generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy and scanning polarization force microscopy (SPFM). Analysis of the O-D stretch modes in the SFG spectra of ${\mathrm{D}}_{2}\mathrm{O}$ on mica indicates that as RH increases, the submonolayer water structure evolves into a more ordered hydrogen-bonding network. At full monolayer coverage $(\ensuremath{\sim}90%\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}\mathrm{RH})$, the SFG spectrum suggests an icelike film with no dangling O-D groups, in agreement with a recent molecular dynamics simulation.