Structural evolution of water on oxide single crystal surfaces

The interaction between water and metal oxide surfaces represents one of the central topics in a variety of research fields including catalysis and photocatalysis. Here we report the recent advancements in infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS) investigations of water adsorption on oxide single crystal surfaces, focusing on two case studies, i.e., water/ZnO(101¯0) and water/α-Fe 2 O 3 (0001) systems. The high-quality polarization-, azimuth- and temperature-dependent IRRAS data, in conjunction with density functional theory calculations, allow for achieving an atomic-level picture of the structural evolution of water on both well-defined oxide surfaces in a wide range of coverages from isolated single molecules over (partially dissociated) 2D monolayer to more complex 3D structures in H-bond networks.