21005SP Exposing samples to water in an ultraclean environment

Water is one of the most important industrial chemicals. It is both the most common solvent in in the chemical industry, and the most common cause of corrosion. Therefore, understanding how water interacts with the surface of materials is of paramount importance. Yet, our techniques that are most sensitive to the surface typically must be performed in a vacuum, at best, exposing the sample to water vapour, but rarely liquid water. Trying to expose our samples to liquid water in air, prior to measurement, results in unintended atmospheric contaminants being deposited onto the sample potentially completely changing the surface chemistry. In this studentship, the successful student will join the I09 beam line at Diamond Light Source to test a “cold finger” deposition system that allows purified water to be crystallised into ice onto a cold finger, the water is then allowed to melt onto the sample. This allows ultra-clean exposure to liquids and control over what, if any, contaminants are introduced.

The student will then participate on a beam time on the I09 beam line, which offers world unique capabilities in studying the structure of the surface of materials, to study titanium dioxide after exposure to an ultraclean water droplet.