Effect of humidity on the interaction of dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) vapor with SiO2 and Al2O3 surfaces, studied using infrared attenuated total reflection spectroscopy.

Infrared attenuated total reflection spectroscopy has been used to study the interaction of DMMP vapor with SiO(2), Al(2)O(3), and AlO(OH) vs relative humidity (RH) and DMMP partial pressure (P/P(0)). For SiO(2) the growth with increasing RH of ice-like and liquid-like layers is seen in agreement with previous work. H↔D exchange during exposure to H(2)O and D(2)O indicates that the ice-like layer is more resistant to exchange, consistent with stronger H-bonding than in the liquid-like layer. Exposure of nominally dry SiO(2) to D(2)O indicates the existence of adsorbed H(2)O that does not exhibit an ice-like spectrum. The ice-like layer appears only at a finite RH. Exposure of SiO(2) to DMMP in the absence of intentionally added H(2)O shows the formation of a strongly bound molecular species followed by a liquid-like layer. The strong interaction involves SiO-H···O═P bonds to surface silanols and/or HO-H···O═P bonds to preadsorbed molecular H(2)O. At a finite RH the ice-like layer forms on SiO(2) even in the presence of DMMP up to P/P(0) = 0.30. DMMP does not appear to penetrate the ice-like layer under these conditions, and the tendency to form a such a layer drives the displacement of DMMP. Amorphous Al(2)O(3) and AlO(OH) do not exhibit an ice-like H(2)O layer. Both have a higher surface OH content than does SiO(2), which leads to higher coverages of H(2)O or DMMP at equivalent RH or P/P(0). At low P/P(0), for which adsorption is dominated by Al-OH···O═P bonding, a-Al(2)O(3) interacts with DMMP more strongly than does AlO(OH) as a result of the higher acidity of OH sites on the former. Up to RH = 0.30 and P/P(0) = 0.30, DMMP appears to remain bonded to the surface rather than being displaced by H(2)O. H(2)O appears to have little or no effect on the total amount of DMMP adsorbed on any of these surfaces, up to an RH of 0.30 and a P/P(0) of 0.30. The results have implications for the transport of DMMP and related molecules on oxide surfaces in the environment.