Dresden 2026 – scientific programme
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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 16: Focus Session: Structure and Dynamics of Solvent at Electrochemical Interfaces – Poster
O 16.2: Poster
Monday, March 9, 2026, 18:00–20:00, P2
Structure and Dynamics of Na+ and Cs+ adsorbed on Cu(111) and solvated by D2O molecules — Florian Denizer1, Jayita Patwari1,2, John Thomas1, Inga Langguth2, Karina Morgenstern2, and •Uwe Bovensiepen1 — 1Fakultät für Physik, Univ. Duisburg-Essen — 2Phys. Chemie I, Ruhr-Univ. Bochum
Alkali cations in liquid water represent widely studied model systems of solvation science in which the water-water interaction competes with the local water-cation coupling. On electrode surfaces additional interactions become relevant. In our investigation using time-resolved two-photon photoemission and low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy we compare Na+ and Cs+ on Cu(111) coadsorbed with individual D2O molecules. D2O/Na+/Cu(111) forms 10 nm wide, flat-lying aggregates. We observe a linear increase of the electronic lifetime of the 3s electron transfer resonance at the Cu(111)-Na+ interface as a function of the number n of adsorbed D2O molecules per ion combined with a maximal energy transfer to solvent modes Δ E of 0.6 eV at n=6−7 [1]. On D2O/Cs+/Cu(111) we find exclusively one or three D2O attached to Cs+. This leads to a stepwise increase in the corresponding 6s electron lifetime with n. Δ E is half that of Na+/Cu(111) which we associate with difference in ion core diameter and modified interactions with Cu(111) [2]. Comparing both systems we identify pronounced differences rooted in the microscopic connection between structure and dynamics.
[1] Kühne et al., JPC C 129, 2054 (2025). [2] Thomas et al., JPC C 127, 23467 (2023).