Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Physical chemistry

Water's wafer-thin surface

A combination of vibrational spectroscopy and molecular calculations reveals that only the surface layer of water at the interface with air has a distinctly different structure from the bulk liquid. See Letter p.192

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Structure of the interface between liquid water and air.

References

  1. Stiopkin, I. V. et al. Nature 474, 192–195 (2011).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Davenas, E. et al. Nature 333, 816–818 (1988).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Ball, P. Nature doi:10.1038/news070806-6 (2007).

  4. Deryagin, B. V. & Fedyakin, N. N. Dokl. Akad. Nauk. SSSR 147, 403–405 (1962).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Rousseau, D. L. & Porto, S. P. S. Science 167, 1715–1719 (1970).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Zheng, J., Chin, W., Khijniak, E., Khijniak, E. Jr & Pollack, G. H. Adv. Colloid Interface Sci. 127, 19–27 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. RÖntgen, W. K. Ann. Phys. Chem. N.F. 45, 91–97 (1892).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Huang, C. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 15214–15218 (2009).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Pollack, G. H. Cells, Gels and the Engines of Life (Ebner, 2001).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Jena, K. C., Covert, P. A. & Hore, D. K. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2, 1056–1061 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Gopalakrishnan, S., Jungwirth, P., Tobias, D. J. & Allen, H. C. J. Phys. Chem. B 109, 8861–8872 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pavel Jungwirth.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jungwirth, P. Water's wafer-thin surface. Nature 474, 168–169 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/474168a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/474168a

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing