SFG study on potential-dependent structure of water at Pt electrode/electrolyte solution interface

Structure of water at Pt/electrolyte solution interface was investigated by sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy. Two broad peaks were observed in OH stretching region at ca. 3200 cm−1 and ca. 3400 cm−1, which are known to be due to the symmetric OH stretching (υ1) of tetrahedrally coordinated, i.e., strongly hydrogen bonded “ice-like” water, and the asymmetric OH stretching (υ3) of water molecules in a more random arrangement, i.e., weakly hydrogen bonded “liquid-like” water, respectively. The SFG intensity strongly depended on electrode potential. Several possibilities are suggested for the potential dependence of the SFG intensity.