Does Water Affect the Acidity of Surfaces? The Proton‐Donating Ability of Silanol and Carboxylic Acid Groups at Mesoporous Silica

Solvation at the interphase: A study of the influence of water on the effective acidity of silanol and carboxylic acid groups of propionic acid functionalized SBA-15 reveals that to affect the proton-donating ability of an acidic group at the surface, water should be able to form a solvation shell around that group. As a result, water does not affect the acidity of native SBA-15 but dramatically enhances that of SBA-15 functionalized with propionic acid moieties.