Measuring Extended Water Interfacial Structures. Water Nanoclusters (∼50 nm) Involved by Ice-like II Walls (∼10 nm)

Interfacial water layers attached to both hydrophobic and hydrophilic substrates have low dielectric permittivity. Measured structural differences between hydrophobic and hydrophilic arrangements are presented in this work. Nanosized water clusters (∼50 nm) are observed in air/water interfacial regions characterized by an ice-like structure forming walls surrounding regions with a dielectric constant ε ∼7.6. Walls are formed by an ice-like II structural arrangement. This condensed phase of water possesses an extremely small dielectric constant (ε ∼3.6) and forms wired water structures. Two nonequilibrium arrangements are then responsible for the measured spatially variable dielectric constant profiles observed in Atomic Force Microscopy.