Water at functional interfaces

Water is, perhaps, the most important material known to humankind—fascinating even in its pure state for the range of anomalous properties it displays. There has been increasing realization that understanding the behavior of water at interfaces—from those of small solutes to biomolecules and polymers to inorganic materials and metals—holds the key to understanding disparate phenomena from self-assembly, biofouling, and catalysis to corrosion. In this issue of MRS Bulletin, we highlight, through the included articles, recent advances in understanding the molecular behavior of water near a range of interfaces of interest to the broader materials community.