Liquid flow along a solid surface reversibly alters interfacial chemistry.

In nature, aqueous solutions often move collectively along solid surfaces (for example, raindrops falling on the ground and rivers flowing through riverbeds). However, the influence of such motion on water-surface interfacial chemistry is unclear. In this work, we combine surface-specific sum frequency generation spectroscopy and microfluidics to show that at immersed calcium fluoride and fused silica surfaces, flow leads to a reversible modification of the surface charge and subsequent realignment of the interfacial water molecules. Obtaining equivalent effects under static conditions requires a substantial change in bulk solution pH (up to 2 pH units), demonstrating the coupling between flow and chemistry. These marked flow-induced variations in interfacial chemistry should substantially affect our understanding and modeling of chemical processes at immersed surfaces.