Interactions of hydrophobic and hydrophilic self-assembled monolayers with water as probed by sum-frequency-generation spectroscopy

► Hydrophobic and hydrophilic SAMs probed in air and H2O via sum-frequency-generation spectroscopy. ► Hydrophobic films: similar in air and H2O, no interaction of water with film. ► Hydrophilic films: significant changes in spectra in H2O, interaction of water molecules with film. ► Results show how SFG can be used to detect interaction of water with thin films.