Interfacial Chemistry

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue on interfacial chemistry aims to provide researchers with a state-of-the-art of the different phenomena that take place at phase boundaries or interfaces, bringing readers the latest developments in the field. Interfacial chemistry is a field with unlimited potential, as the chemical and physical properties and processes at the interfaces are the scientific basis for so many of the technologies that affect our lives, creating new opportunities. The chemistry of the living systems is largely controlled by biomembranes, but their complexity ensures that increasing efforts are devoted to creating and characterizing artificial model systems such as micelles, reverse micelles, micro- and macro-emulsions, liposomes, and so on.

Interfaces play a key role in a number of diverse phenomena, including catalysis, biosensing, electrochemical processes, as well as many others. Systems with interfaces are present in an infinite number of different industrial processes and physicochemical phenomenon, and have an unlimited number of uses that involves every industry and every aspect of life, from pharmaceuticals, medicine, food processing, cleaning, paints, and so on. Their applications depend on the applied properties and the mechanisms of action, and therefore, the design of the functionalized materials and their optimization relies on an intimate understanding of “structure–activity” relationships.

Research manuscripts and reviews are welcome. Our aim is to improve the general understanding of the role of interfaces in chemical reactivity. The interfacial region is of a few nanometers thick and has different solvent properties than those of the bulk liquids. Its tendency to concentrate or separate reactants, together with its ability to orientate molecules, makes them excellent systems to analyze a variety of phenomena. Interfaces cannot be isolated without disrupting the existing equilibria, and the exchange of reactants between the interface and the adjacent bulk solution(s) may be superimposed to the interfacial reaction. Molecules of the reactant arrive at an interface from the bulk solution by random motion (diffusion), and the reactant molecules must remain at the interface for some time. The rate of chemical reactions taking place at an interface depend, first, on how fast the reactants reach the interface, and, in some instances, on the removal of products, leaving the interface vacant for further reactions. Moreover, because of the spatially heterogeneous and dynamic nature of interfacial reactions, there is a recognized need for localized measurements and characterizations under the relevant reaction conditions.

Dr. Carlos Bravo-Diaz
Dr. Sonia Losada-Barreiro
Guest Editors

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