Solvated electrons at the water-air interface: surface versus bulk signal in low kinetic energy photoelectron spectroscopy

Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy at low kinetic energies (less than or similar to 5 eV) is applied to dilute iodide solutions with different surface and bulk contributions. The results indicate a pronounced surface sensitivity. Signals assigned to solvated electrons near the liquid surface decay rapidly on a sub-ps timescale. In contrast to the literature, a long-lived surface solvated electron at 1.6 eV binding energy is not observed.