Project summary
The physical properties of molecules adsorbed on the surface or confined inside porous media may substantially differ from the properties of their bulk materials. Consequently, it is very important for technical applications (separation, catalysis, cement hydration) of such host-guest systems to obtain a complete understanding of the dynamical effects carried out by the interaction of molecules with the surface. Due the non-invasive character Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is an efficient tool in studying molecular dynamics and extensive investigations were done in this area. However, in spite of the evident progress, one is still far from achieving a complete understanding of the effect of molecule-surface interaction on molecular dynamics. For instance, there are no systematic investigations of the relationship between molecular dynamics, the polar character of the confined molecules, temperature and saturation degree. Moreover, most natural porous media (concrete, soils) intrinsically contain magnetic impurities and there is no systematic evaluation of their effect on NMR measurements. It is the goal of the present project to undertake such investigations. Thus, we will perform systematic diffusion and nuclear relaxation studies on polar and non-polar molecules confined in porous media with magnetic impurities. The investigations will be done as a function of temperature, saturation degree and magnetic content. These investigations will allow us to obtain information on the restriction imposed by the surface to the molecular rotational and translational mobility. They will also help us to improve the experimental techniques for the characterization of porous media with magnetic impurities.
The physical properties of molecules adsorbed on the surface or confined inside porous media may substantially differ from the properties of their bulk materials. Consequently, it is very important for technical applications (separation, catalysis, cement hydration) of such host-guest systems to obtain a complete understanding of the dynamical effects carried out by the interaction of molecules with the surface. Due the non-invasive character Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is an efficient tool in studying molecular dynamics and extensive investigations were done in this area. However, in spite of the evident progress, one is still far from achieving a complete understanding of the effect of molecule-surface interaction on molecular dynamics. For instance, there are no systematic investigations of the relationship between molecular dynamics, the polar character of the confined molecules, temperature and saturation degree. Moreover, most natural porous media (concrete, soils) intrinsically contain magnetic impurities and there is no systematic evaluation of their effect on NMR measurements. It is the goal of the present project to undertake such investigations. Thus, we will perform systematic diffusion and nuclear relaxation studies on polar and non-polar molecules confined in porous media with magnetic impurities. The investigations will be done as a function of temperature, saturation degree and magnetic content. These investigations will allow us to obtain information on the restriction imposed by the surface to the molecular rotational and translational mobility. They will also help us to improve the experimental techniques for the characterization of porous media with magnetic impurities.