In-situ Investigations of Solid-Liquid Interfaces by means of RBS

Solid-liquid interfaces are of crucial significance since their presence in nature is ubiquitous. They play a fundamental role in diverse fields as biology, fluid physics, radiation physics, geological and environmental research, surface science and electro-chemistry. Binnig and Rohrer (Nobel Price 1986) considered the significance of the solid-liquid interface as:

"The solid-liquid interface is, in our opinion, the interface of the future." [1]

Investigating phenomena at the interface of a solid and an aqueous solution, where chemical reactions, oxidation, corrosion, adhesion, dissolution and ion exchange may take place, represents a challenging task. The techniques applied should not influence any of these processes, they should be able to access the interface (through the liquid or through the solid) and simultaneously deliver quantitative information on the interface properties.

A new versatile experimental setup for in-situ Rutherford backscattering spectrometry at solid-liquid interfaces enabling direct and quantitative measurements with highest sensitivity is presented [2]. An electro-chemical liquid cell with a three-electrode arrangement was mounted at the IBCs 2MV Van-de-Graaff accelerator. A thin Si3N4 window (thickness down to 150 nm) separates the vacuum of the detector chamber from the electrolyte in the cell.

In a first study, we investigated the attachment of Ba onto the Si3N4 surface as a function of contact time and pH value of the electrolyte solution (see Fig. 1). From these measurements, we can deduce the evolution of the double layer with sub-monolayer sensitivity in a direct and quantitative manner.

Despite focusing on a particular system as presented here, the setup allows to conduct a large variety of in-situ investigations at solid-liquid interfaces such as monitoring of electro-chemical reactions, segregation, adsorption, dissolution and corrosion processes.

Details of the setup, its capabilities and limitations are presented and the results of first measurements are discussed in detail.

[1] G. Binnig and H. Rohrer, Reviews of Modern Physics 71 (1999), 324.
[2] N. B. Khojasteh, S. Apelt, U. Bergmann, S. Facsko and R. Heller, Review of Scientific Instruments (2019), submitted.