The contact of two hydrophobic surfaces in water is of importance in biology, catalysis, material science, and geology. A tenet of hydrophobic attraction is the release of an ordered water layer, leading to a dry contact between two hydrophobic surfaces. The molecular nature of the contacting interface underwater impacts a variety of interfacial processes such as adhesion, friction and wetting. Although the water-free contact has been inferred from numerous experimental and theoretical studies, this has not been directly measured. To better understand the role of water in interfacial phenomena I couple macroscopic measurements with surface sensitive molecular spectroscopy, sum frequency generation spectroscopy (SFG). By combining tools such as contact mechanics, contact angles and sliding friction in conjunction with SFG,
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