What does this mean in short? As Dr. Yair Littman puts it: “Our work shows that the surface of a simple electrolyte solution is different from what was previously thought. Furthermore, “the ion-rich subsurface determines the composition of the interface. On top there are several layers of pure water, then the ion-rich subsurface. layer, followed by the bulk salt solution.”
If you’re not a scientist yourself, that may not sound like a big deal. But the discovery of these water molecules is profound and could have a major impact on our understanding of something as fundamental as ions and electrolytes. Moreover, the technological methods used to arrive at these discoveries may lead to similar transformations in other fields.