Surface chemistry is the study of chemical phenomena that occur at the interface of two phases, usually between a gas and a solid or between a liquid and a solid. Chemistry (in Greek: χημεία) is the science of matter that deals with the composition, structure, and properties of substances and with the transformations that they undergo. ... In general usage, an interface is the point, area, or surface along which two substances or other qualitatively different things meet; it is also used metaphorically for the juncture between items. ... ... A gas is one of the phases of matter. ... A solid is a phase of matter, characterized by resistance to deformation and changes of volume. ... A liquid will assume the shape of its container. ...

One important field of surface chemical research is related to surface functionalization, which aims at modifying the chemical composition of a surface by incorporation of selected chemical elements or functional groups. Surface functionalization introduces chemical functional groups to a surface. ...

Another important aspect of surface chemistry studies is to determine whether a molecule attaches itself to a surface by chemisorption or by physisorption. Surface chemistry is of particular importance to the field of heterogeneous catalysis. Chemisorption is a process whereby a molecule adheres to a surface through the formation of a chemical bond, as opposed to physisorption where that is not the case. ... Physisorption is a process whereby a molecule adheres to a surface without the formation of a chemical bond, usually by van der Waals forces or electrostatic attraction. ... In chemistry and biology, catalysis is the acceleration of the reaction rate of a chemical reaction by means of a substance, called a catalyst, that is itself unchanged chemically by the overall reaction. ...

The advent of scanning probe microscopies like atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning-tunneling microscopy (STM) has stimulated a considerable increase in research activity in surface chemistry. This increase is part of a more general interest in nanotechnology. The atomic force microscope (AFM) is a very powerful microscope invented by Binnig, Quate and Gerber in 1986. ... Image of substitutional Cr impurities (small bumps) in the Fe(001) surface. ... A mite next to a gear set produced using MEMS, the precursor to nanotechnology. ...

Behaviour in solution surface chemistry and colloid chemistry is dependent on the surface charge and the potential distribution in the surrounding electrical double layer. The electrical double layer describes the variation of electric potential near a surface, and has a large bearing on the behaviour of colloids and other surfaces in contact with solutions. ...

Irving Langmuir was one of the founders of this field, and a scientific journal on surface chemistry bears his name. The Langmuir adsorption equation is used to model monolayer adsorption where all surface adsorption sites have the same affinity for the adsorbing species. Irving Langmuir -- chemist and physicist Irving Langmuir (January 31, 1881 in Brooklyn, New York - August 16, 1957 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts) was an American chemist and physicist. ... Langmuir isotherm. ...

External links

• The American Chemical Society journal, Langmuir
• The Institute for Surface Chemistry [1]