title: Atomic and Molecular Collisions at Liquid Surfaces.
abstract: The gas-liquid interface remains one of the least explored, but nevertheless most practically important, environments in which molecular collisions take place. These molecular-level processes underlie many bulk phenomena of fundamental and applied interest, spanning evaporation, respiration, multiphase catalysis, and atmospheric chemistry. We review here the research that has, during the past decade or so, been unraveling the molecular-level mechanisms of inelastic and reactive collisions at the gas-liquid interface. Armed with the knowledge that such collisions with the outer layers of the interfacial region can be unambiguously distinguished, we show that the scattering of gas-phase projectiles is a promising new tool for the interrogation of liquid surfaces with extreme surface sensitivity. Especially for reactive scattering, this method also offers absolute chemical selectivity for the groups that react to produce a specific observed product.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemical Sciences, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, United Kingdom; email: k.g.mckendrick@hw.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Maria A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Tesa-Serrate
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717; email: tminton@montana.edu.
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Smoll
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717; email: tminton@montana.edu.
authors.forename: Timothy K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Minton
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemical Sciences, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, United Kingdom; email: k.g.mckendrick@hw.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Kenneth G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: McKendrick
keywords: gas–liquid interface; gas–surface scattering; inelastic scattering; reactive scattering; surface composition; surface structure