Temperature Dependence of the Air/Water Interface Revealed by Polarization Sensitive Sum-Frequency Generation Spectroscopy

The temperature dependence of the vibrational sum-frequency generation (vSFG) spectra of the the air/water interface is investigated using many-body molecular dynamics (MB-MD) simulations performed with the MB-pol potential energy function. The total vSFG spectra calculated for different polarization combinations are then analyzed in terms of molecular auto-correlation and cross-correlation contributions. To provide molecular-level insights into interfacial hydrogen-bonding topologies, which give rise to specific spectroscopic features, the vSFG spectra are further investigated by separating contributions associated with water molecules donating 0, 1, or 2 hydrogen bonds to neighboring water molecules. This analysis suggests that the low frequency shoulder of the free OH peak which appears at ∼3600 cm−1 is primarily due to intermolecular couplings between both singly and doubly hydrogen-bonded molecules.