Low density spectrum of transverse NMR in molecular gases. Application to hydrogen

The low density behaviour of the spectral lineshape function associated with the relaxation of the transverse components of the nuclear magnetization of a homonuclear diatomic gas of spin $\text{1}\text{2}$ nuclei is studied from the point of view of a recent kinetic theory approach to NMR in molecular gases. It is shown that as a critical density is approached (from above), the relaxation (in time-domain) passes over from exponential to non-exponential behaviour. For the special case in which the spin—rotation relaxation mechanism predominates, an analytic solution to the problem has been given, while for molecular hydrogen which has, in addition to the aforementioned mechanism, dipolar relaxation, the behaviour of the lineshape function has been obtained numerically. The critical density at which the relaxation passes from exponential to nonexponential in H₂ is found to be of the order of 3 × 10^?3 amagats which lies, at present, still outside experimental accessibility. One important consequence of this result is that the traditional Abragam formula for the transverse relaxation time T₂ is clearly seen to be invalid below ≈ 5 × 10^?3 amagats.     

NMR in powders and single crystals of the metal-alloy cluster [HNi38Pt6(CO)48]5-

The 44 atom core Ni38Pt6 in the metal cluster compound [HNi₃₈Pt₆(CO)₄₈]^5- is the largest metal atom core, that has been realized in a single crystal. By ¹⁹⁵Pt NMR we have studied the electron density at the Pt-core atoms in powders and single crystals of two varieties of this compound. The large line widths can be explained by charge fluctuations between the metal cores, which are about 17 Å apart. The relaxation rates, which resemble those in randomly-packed Pt309 cluster compounds, confirm such an interpretation.     

Spin densities,ligand exchange and 13C relaxation in aniline-Ni II complexes

The electron spin distribution in aniline and alkylaniline-Ni(AA)₂ complexes is deduced from ¹H, ¹³C and ¹⁴N contact shifts. The nitrogen hybridization state is given by the experimental values of a_NH^H/a^N compared to the results of INDO calculations. The ¹³C relaxation times in complexed 4-ethyl aniline indicates an N-Ni distance of 2 A and an electron relaxation time T₁ of the order of 10^?10 s.     

Density and temperature dependence of the relaxation of the 1Δg state of highly compressed O2 fluid

The electronic relaxation of O₂ is investigated by an absorption excitation and fluorescence detection technique. The relaxation rate constant of O₂(¹Δ_g) is measured in the density range from 10²¹ to 3 × 10²² cm⁻³ at temperatures between 90 and 295 K. The experimental results are compared with theoretical models based on the pair distribution functions of the fluid. The effects of intermolecular potentials with hard or soft cores are discussed.     

Relationship between the Auger parameter and the ground state valence charge of the core-ionized atom: The case of Cu(I) and Cu (II) compounds

We develop a simple semiempirical model that correlates the Auger parameter to the ground state valence charge of the core-ionized atom with closed shell electron configuration. Until now, the Auger parameter was employed to separate initial and final state effects that influence the core electron binding energy. The model is applied to Cu(I) and Cu (II) compounds with the Auger parameter defined as α' = E_b^FL (2p_3/2) + E_k^FL (L₃M₄₅M₄₅;¹G). The Auger parameter shift for Cu(I) ion in CuI, CuBr, CuFeS₂, Cu₂S, and Cu₂O compounds—with respect to the copper free atom—increases with the electronic polarizability of the nearest-neighbour ligands suggesting a nonlocal screening mechanism. This relaxation process is interpreted as due to an electron transfer from the nearest-neighbour ligands toward the spatially extended 4sp valence orbitals of the core-ionized Cu(I) ion. In agreement with our model, a linear relationship is found between the Auger parameter shift and the ground state Bader valence charge obtained by density functional theory calculations. The Auger parameter shift for the Cu (II) ion in CuF₂, CuCl₂, CuBr₂, CuSO₄, Cu (NO₃)₂•3H₂O, Cu₃(PO₄)₂, Cu (OH)₂, and CuO compounds is very close to the Auger parameter of metallic copper, and therefore, it is not related to the calculated ground state Bader valence charge. The relaxation process in the final state is dominated by the local screening mechanism, which involves an electron transfer from the nearest-neighbour ligands toward the spatially contracted 3d orbitals of the core-ionized Cu (II) ion.     

The temperature dependence of proton relaxation times in triplet exciton ion radical salts

Proton spin lattice relaxation times have been measured for a variety of single crystal orientations of the (φ₃AsCH₃)⁺(TCNQ)₂^? ion radical salt over the temperature range of approximately 90 to 370°K. It is shown that the relaxation rate is directly proportional to the triplet exciton density where the exciton production energy is significantly dependent on temperature. The data suggests that exciton—exciton exchange is an important aspect in the relaxation mechanism.     

Large Easy‐Plane Magnetic Anisotropy in a Three‐Coordinate Cobalt(II) Complex [Li(THF)4][Co(NPh2)3]

Magnetic anisotropy is the key element in the construction of single‐ion magnets, a kind of nanomagnets for high‐density information storage. This works describes an unusual large easy‐plane magnetic anisotropy (with a zero‐field splitting parameter D of +40.2 cm^?1), mainly arising from the second‐order spin‐orbit coupling effect in a trigonal‐planar Co^II complex [Li(THF)₄][Co(NPh₂)₃], revealed by combined studies of magnetism, high frequency/field electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, and ab initio calculations. Meanwhile, the field‐induced slow magnetic relaxation in this complex was mainly attributed to the Raman process.     

Electron Decoupling with Chirped Microwave Pulses for Rapid Signal Acquisition and Electron Saturation Recovery

Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) increases NMR sensitivity by transferring polarization from electron to nuclear spins. Herein, we demonstrate that electron decoupling with chirped microwave pulses enables improved observation of DNP‐enhanced ¹³C spins in direct dipolar contact with electron spins, thereby leading to an optimal delay between transients largely governed by relatively fast electron relaxation. We report the first measurement of electron longitudinal relaxation time (T_1e) during magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR by observation of DNP‐enhanced NMR signals (T_1e=40±6 ms, 40 mM trityl, 4.0 kHz MAS, 4.3 K). With a 5 ms DNP period, electron decoupling results in a 195 % increase in signal intensity. MAS at 4.3 K, DNP, electron decoupling, and short recycle delays improve the sensitivity of ¹³C in the vicinity of the polarizing agent. This is the first demonstration of recovery times between MAS‐NMR transients being governed by short electron T₁ and fast DNP transfer.     

Relaxation Effect of Basis Orbitals on the Properties of Atomic and Molecular Hydrogen Systems

The effect of orbital relaxation on the properties of atomic and molecular hydrogen systems H, H ₂ ⁺ , H₂, H ₂ ⁻ , and H ₃ ⁺ calculated using the minimal basis set, the split valence shell basis set including the polarization function, and an extended basis set of grouped natural orbitals is considered. Inclusion of orbital relaxation in calculations results in a decreased total energy and more accurate energies of electron affinity. The strongest effect is produced on the calculated characteristics of the anions. The calculated activation energy of the radical reaction of hydrogen elimination. H₂ + H = H + H₂ depends strongly on the degree to which electron correlation is taken into account. Due to inclusion of orbital relaxation, the activation energy also approximates the experimental value, although to a lesser extent. The semiempirical PM3 method fails to adequately describe the transition state of this reaction, but this disadvantage is eliminated by using the exponent of the relaxed orbital of hydrogen.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by A. I. Ermakov, A. E. Merkulov, A. A. Svechnikova, and V. V. Belousov__________Translated from Zhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 45, No. 6, pp. 979–985, November–December, 2004.     

An approximate quantitative analysis of non-equilibrium plasma transport for high density plasmas

For the evaluation of transport in high density plasmas numerical models have been developed in which simultaneously the conservation laws for mass, momentum and energy are solved. For high density plasmas, which are not too far from equilibrium the commonly used thermodynamic quantities are, electron temperature T_e, electron density n_e, heavy particle temperature and neutral density (or pressure). In this contribution an alternative formulation is described in which the plasma state is described by electron density ne and total pressure p and two non-equilibrium parameters: the deviation from Saha equilibrium of the neutral ground state (δb₁ = n₁/n₁ ^saha−1) and the deviation from thermal equilibrium between electrons and heavy particles δΘ = 1−T_h/T_e. The latter two parameters are zero in local thermodynamic equilibrium.

The advantage of this formulation is, that the transport coefficients and radiative properties can be reformulated as function of mainly n_e (at constant pressure), as the influences of non zero δb₁ and δΘ are small or can be explicitly given. As a result a simpler approximate formulation of the transport problem can be obtained. As an example the procedure is illustrated for atmospheric argon plasmas and for one aspect a comparison is made with work from e.g. E. Pfender.

     

Measurement of Spatial Distributions of Electron Density and Electron Temperature in Direct Current Glow Discharge by Double Langmuir Probes

The spatial distributions of electron temperature and density in a dc glow discharge that is created by a pair of planar electrodes were obtained by using double Langmuir probes. The contribution of double Langmuir probes measurement is to provide a relatively quantitative tool to identify the electron distribution behavior. Electrons gain energy from the imposed electric field, and electron temperature (T_e) rises very sharply from the cathode to the leading edge of the negative glow where T_e reaches the maximum. In this region, the number of electrons (N_e) is relatively small and does not increase much. The accelerated electrons lose energy by ionizing gas atoms, and T_e decreases rapidly from the trailing edge of the negative glow and extends to the anode. N_e was observed to increase from the cathode to the anode, which is due to the electron impact ionization and electron movement. The electron density was observed to increase with increasing discharge voltage while the electron temperature remained approximately. At 800 V and 50 mTorr argon glow discharge, Te ranged from 15 to 52 eV and Ne ranged from 6.3×10⁶/cm³ to 3.1×10⁸/cm³ in the DC glow discharge, and T_e and N_e were dependent on the axial position.     

Measurement of electron density utilizing the Hα-line from laser produced plasma in air

The electron density in a laser produced plasma experiment was measured utilizing the Stark broadening of the H_α-line at 656.27 nm. This line results from the interaction of the Nd:YAG laser at the fundamental wavelength of 1.06 μm with a plane solid aluminum target in a humid air. The measurements were repeated at several delay times (0–10 μs) and at a fixed gate time of 1 μs. The electron density from the optically thin Al II-line at 281.62 nm was measured in parallel from the same spectra. The electron density was found in the range from 10¹⁸ cm^− 3 down to 6 × 10¹⁶ cm^− 3 at longer delay time. The electron density from the H_α-line using the Griem's standard theory was compared with the predictions of other model due to Gigosos et al. The agreement between the measured electron density from both the H_α-line and the Al II-line would confirm the reliability of utilizing the H_α-line as an electron density standard reference line in LIBS experiments. Several important features characterize the H_α-line: it is a well isolated line, it gives large signal to background ratio, it lasts a long time after the termination of the laser (up to 10 μs), its Stark width is relatively large and does not exhibit self-absorption.     

Collisional relaxation of metastable electronic states of Fe+

The overall rate constants for collisional relaxation of metastable excited states of Fe⁺ by He, Ar, Kr, H₂, ²H₂, CO, N₂, NO, CH₄, and CH₃OH have been studied by using charge-exchange ion-molecule reaction chemistry. The rate constants vary according to the nature of the quenching reagent as well as the energy level and electron configuration of the Fe⁺ ions. In general, NO, CH₄, and CH₃OH are the most efficient quenching reagents with rate constants that approach the Langevin collision rate, whereas the reaction rates for the rare gas atoms are slow and vary depending upon the specific electron configuration of the Fe⁺ ion. The mechanism of collisional relaxation is discussed with emphasis on a curve-crossing. mechanism for the rare gas atoms. An electron-transfer mechanism is described for the relaxation of high lying (Fe⁺)*.     

Theoretical calculations of pulse radiolysis spectra of trapped electrons in glassy media

Calculations of the absorption spectra of e _t ^– were performed using the model of electron localization in amorphous media. The model describes electron localization as the radiationless transition of an electron from the conduction state to the binding level of one of a statistical variety of the pre-existing traps in the matrix. Electron capture by very deep traps is considered as a two-stage process-electron capture by the excited level of the trap followed by relaxation to the ground state. The time evolution and the temperature dependence of the optical absorption spectra of e _t ^– were computed for polar and nonpolar glasses. The spectral changes predicted by the model follow the experimental results provided by pulse radiolysis.     

Electronic fine structure calculation of [Gd(DOTA)(H2O)]– using LF-DFT: The zero field splitting

Zerfo field splitting plays an important role in determining the electron spin relaxation of Gd(III) in solution. We understand the ZFS as an effect depending on the f electron structure and treat it in the framework of ligand field-density functional theory (LF-DFT). We apply this theory to calculate the ZFS of [Gd(DOTA)(H₂O)]^? from first principles, having an insight concerning the contributions determining the ZFS.     

Progress in the non-equilibrium vibrational kinetics of hydrogen in magnetic multicusp H− ion sources

The non-equilibrium vibrational kinetics of H₂ in multicusp magnetic discharges has been studied by improving a previous model developed by our groups. In particular, a complete set of V-T (vibrational translation) rates involving H-H₂(v) collisions, calculated by using a three-dimensional dynamics approach, has been inserted into our self-consistent model for better representing the corresponding relaxation. Different experimental situations are simulated with special emphasis on the temporal scales necessary for the different distributions (electron energy and vibrational distributions) to reach stationary values. Finally, a comparison between theoretical and experimental quantities such as vibrational temperature, electron temperature, electron number density and concentration of negative ions (H⁻) shows a satisfactory agreement, thus indicating the basic correctness of our model.     

Modeling of thermal and chemical non-equilibrium in a laser-induced aluminum plasma by means of a Collisional-Radiative model

A 0D numerical approach including a Collisional-Radiative model is elaborated in the purpose of describing the behavior of the nascent plasma resulting from the interaction between a 4 ns/65 mJ/532 nm Q-switched Nd:YAG laser pulse and an aluminum sample in vacuum. The heavy species considered are Al, Al⁺, Al²⁺ and Al³⁺ on their different excited states and free electrons. The translation temperatures of free electrons and heavy species are assumed different (T_e and T_A respectively). Numerous elementary processes are accounted for as electron impact induced excitation and ionization, elastic collisions, multiphoton ionization and inverse Bremsstrahlung. Atoms passing from the sample to gas phase are described by using classical vaporization theory so that the surface temperature is arbitrarily limited to values less than the critical point one at 6700 K. The laser flux density considered in the study is therefore moderate with a fluence lower than 7 J cm^? 2.This model puts forward the major influence of multiphoton ionization in the plasma formation, whereas inverse Bremsstrahlung turns out to be quasi negligible. The increase of electron temperature is mainly due to multiphoton ionization and T_e does not exceed 10,000 K. The electron induced collisions play an important role during the subsequent phase which corresponds to the relaxation of the excited states toward Boltzmann equilibrium. The electron density reaches its maximum during the laser pulse with a value ≈ 10²², 10²³ m^? 3 depending highly on the sample temperature. The ionization degree is of some percents in our conditions.     

Electrochemical and oxygen reduction properties of pristine and nitrogen-doped few layered graphene nanoflakes (FLGs)

Vertically aligned few layered graphene (FLGs) nanoflakes were synthesized by microwave plasma deposition for various time durations ranging from 30 to 600 s to yield graphene films of varying morphology, microstructure and areal/edge density. Their intrinsic electrochemical properties were explored using Fe(CN)₆ ^3?/4? and Ru(NH₃)₆ ^3+/2+ redox species. All the FLG electrodes demonstrate fast electron transfer kinetics with near ideal ΔEp values of 60–65 mV. Using a relationship between electron transfer rate and edge plane density, an estimation of the edge plane density was carried out which revealed a moderation of edge plane density with increase in growth time. The pristine FLGs also possess excellent electrocatalytic activity towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline solutions. This ORR activity can be further enhanced by exposing the pristine FLGs to nitrogen electron cyclotron resonance plasma. The metal free N-doped FLGs exhibit much higher electrocatalytic activity towards ORR than pristine FLGs with higher durability and selectivity than Pt-based catalysts. The excellent electrochemical performance of N-doped FLGs is explained in terms of enhanced edge plane exposure, high content of pyridinic nitrogen and an increase in the electronic density of states.     

Experimental verification of the theory of J-diffusion in nitrogen gas

The measured linewidths of NMR spectra for ¹⁵N₂ and ¹⁴N₂ have been used to calculate rotational (τJ) and orientational (τθ₂) relaxation times. Within the density range studied (0–100 amagat) τθ₂ is proportional to τ_J in line with the impact theory of orientational and rotational relaxation.     

INFLUENCE OF ELECTRON-WITHDRAWING SUBSTITUENTS IN THE OXAPHOSPHOLE RING ON THE AXIAL CONFORMATIONAL TRANSMISSION IN Pv COMPOUNDS

Abstract

A MNDO and 300-MHz ¹H NMR study of some trigonal-bipyramidal (TBP) five-coördinated phosphorus (P^v) compounds is reported. It is shown by the MNDO calculations that, in the oxaphosphole P^v TBP compounds 5a-c, the electron distribution in the axial bonds of the TBP is affected by the electronegativity of the substituent at C₄ of the oxaphosphole ring. With increasing electronegativity of the substituent at C₄, the electron density on the axial exocyclic oxygen atom O₁ decreases whereas the electron density on the axial endocyclic atom O₁ increases. This is supported by a ¹H NMR conformational analysis of the C₁[sbnd]C₂ bond of the oxaphosphole P^v TBP compounds 6–11. The gauche(-) rotamer fraction (O¹ and O¹ trans situated) of these compounds, which is correlated to the electron density on O₁, is reduced to 30% as compared to the absolute axial g^?rotamer fraction (59%) of the dioxaphosphole P^v TBP compound 13, most likely because of the presence of the carbonyl group at C₄ of the oxaphosphole ring. So, both the ¹H NMR and MNDO study show that electron withdrawing substituents on the oxaphosphole ring of P^v TBP compounds reverse the electron transfer in the axial P[sbnd]O bonds of the TBP (as compared to dioxaphosphole compounds), from exocyclic O₁ towards endocyclic O₁.