Description Basic defects in ice monolayers are seen using a microscope The process of liquid adsorption onto solid surfaces can be observed everywhere, from the sweat stain on your shirt to the molecular clouds in outer space. This process, known as wetting, plays an important role in various chemical reactions and is at the core of many processes, such as corrosion and catalysis. For example, protons in the water adsorption layer are responsible for electrical conduction in electrochemical reactions on battery electrodes. Obtaining information on the location and dynamics of the protons is an important but challenging task. On page 315 of this issue, Tian et al. (1) accomplish this by preparing monolayers of water molecules on metal surfaces and using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to visualize the individual excess protons introduced onto the monolayers. They identify two qualitatively different cations with excess protons, and the abundance ratio of the two cations vary with the metal substrates.
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