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Anomalous interfacial dynamics of single proton charges in binary aqueous solutions

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Ahmet Avsar

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Abstract

© 2021 The Authors. Our understanding of the dynamics of charge transfer between solid surfaces and liquid electrolytes has been hampered by the difficulties in obtaining interface, charge, and solvent-specific information at both high spatial and temporal resolution. Here, we measure at the single charge scale the dynamics of protons at the interface between an hBN crystal and binary mixtures of water and organic amphiphilic solvents (alcohols and acetone), evidencing a marked influence of solvation on interfacial dynamics. Applying single-molecule localization microscopy to emissive crystal defects, we observe correlated activation between adjacent ionizable surface defects, mediated by the transport of single excess protons along the solid/liquid interface. Solvent content has a nontrivial effect on interfacial dynamics, leading at intermediate water fraction to an increased surface diffusivity, as well as an increased affinity of the proton charges to the solid surface. Our measurements evidence the notable role of solvation on interfacial proton charge transport.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Comtet J, Rayabharam A, Glushkov E, Zhang M, Avsar A, Watanabe K, Taniguchi T, Aluru NR, Radenovic A

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Science Advances

Year: 2021

Volume: 7

Issue: 40

Print publication date: 01/10/2021

Online publication date: 29/09/2021

Acceptance date: 06/08/2021

Date deposited: 18/10/2021

ISSN (electronic): 2375-2548

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science

URL: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abg8568

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abg8568

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