Specific electron loss systems investigated

The investigation of aqueous electrolyte-air interface encounters a couple of intrinsic challenges. Firstly, the majority of material is dissolved in the bulk and the interfacial region comprises only a tiny fraction of the total material of the system. Consequently, spectroscopic investigations with classical techniques such as Infrared, Raman or UV-spectroscopy are often hampered by the lack of surface specificity and the signals are dominated by bulk contributions. Secondly, the processes at the air-water interface are highly dynamic. On a molecular scale there is a tremendous traffic towards both adjacent bulk phases. Molecules evaporate and condense at the interface and diffuse towards the bulk phase. There is no defined static molecular arrangement and as a consequence, fairly broad spectral features are expected. Moreover, many powerful surface specific techniques such as electron loss spectroscopy have special requirements to the sample and the environment (e.g. UHV-conditions) and cannot be applied to the liquid-air interface. 

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