Water at Interfaces

Jordi Fraxedas obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Stuttgart, Germany. His thesis work was performed at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research under the supervision of Prof. M. Cardona. After a post-doctoral position at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble (France) and an established researcher position at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN) in Geneva (Switzerland), he joined the Solid State Research Institute of Barcelona of the Spanish Research Council in 1995. He is now leading the Force Probe Microscopy and Surface Nanoengineering Group at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Bellaterra (Barcelona). His research activity is focused on interfacial phenomena arising from the nanostructuration of surfaces and from the interaction of molecules with surfaces. He has co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles and published the book entitled Molecular Organic Materials: From Molecules to Crystalline Solids (Cambridge University Press, 2006).

This book provides a broad, multidisciplinary introduction to water at interfaces, focusing on its molecular nature. It is written for practicing scientists and engineers who want a fundamental understanding of what water does at surfaces and interfaces. It covers a host of examples to convey general principles, including the hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity of materials, the special structure of interfacial water for biological and electrochemical processes, the role of water at biosurfaces (DNA, proteins, and membranes), friction and adhesion, marine aerosols, ice formation, wetting-dewetting, and filtration.

An Introduction to Water. Interfaces of Condensed Pure Water. Water on Ideal Solid Surfaces. Hydrophobicity and Hydrophilicity. Water on Real Solid Surfaces. Water/Biomolecule Interfaces. Appendix A Buoyancy and Surface Tension. Appendix B Capillary Forces. Appendix C Marangoni-Bénard Patterns. Index.