Orientational structure of water molecules near the solid/water interface probed with Second Harmonic Generation

A new experimental method was developed especially to probe the Stern Layer effective capacitance and the interfacial depth of water allowing us to probe the accuracy of the Gouy-Chapman Stern model. This is done using Surface Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) performed at the silica/water interface. By varying the pH, salt concentration and temperature of the aqueous solutions, we gain insight into the molecular orientational structure in the interfacial region.