NMR study of the vapor phase contribution to diffusion in partially filled silica glasses with nanometer and micrometer pores

The contribution of the vapor phase to molecular diffusion in porous silica glasses with nanometer (Vycor) and micrometer (VitraPor#5) pores partially filled with water (polar) or cyclohexane (nonpolar) was investigated with the aid of field-gradient NMR diffusometry. Due to the vapor phase, the effective diffusion coefficient of cyclohexane filling micrometer pores (VitraPor#5) increased up to 10 times relative to the value in bulk liquid upon reduction of the pore space filling factor. On the other hand, the effective diffusion coefficient of water first decreases and then increases when the liquid content is reduced. The dependence of the effective diffusion coefficient on the pore filling factor is strongly related to the pore dimension. A general two-phase exchange model is presented that is well accounting for all experimental diffusion features.     

Diffusion studies in confined nematic liquid crystals by MAS PFG NMR

Pulsed field gradient (PFG) NMR and magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR have been combined in order to measure the diffusion coefficients of liquid crystals in confined geometry. Combination of MAS NMR with PFG NMR has a higher spectroscopic resolution in comparison with conventional PFG NMR and improves the application of NMR diffusometry to liquid crystals. It is found that the confinement of the liquid crystal 5CB in porous glasses with mean pore diameters of 30 and 200 nm does not notably change its diffusion behavior in comparison with the bulk state.     

Polymer chain dynamics under nanoscopic confinements

It is shown that the confinement of polymer melts in nanopores leads to chain dynamics dramatically different from bulk behavior. This so-called corset effect occurs both above and below the critical molecular mass and induces the dynamic features predicted for reptation. A spinodal demixing technique was employed for the preparation of linear poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) confined to nanoscopic strands that are in turn embedded in a quasi-solid and impenetrable methacrylate matrix. Both the molecular weight of the PEO and the mean diameter of the strands were varied to a certain degree. The chain dynamics of the PEO in the molten state was examined with the aid of field-gradient NMR diffusometry (time scale, 10(-2)-10(0) s) and field-cycling NMR relaxometry (time scale, 10(-9)-10(-4) s). The dominating mechanism for translational displacements probed in the nanoscopic strands by either technique is shown to be reptation. On the time scale of spin-lattice relaxation time measurements, the frequency dependence signature of reptation (i.e., T1 approximately nu(3/4)) showed up in all samples. A "tube" diameter of only 0.6 nm was concluded to be effective on this time scale even when the strand diameter was larger than the radius of gyration of the PEO random coils. This corset effect is traced back to the lack of the local fluctuation capacity of the free volume in nanoscopic confinements. The confinement dimension is estimated at which the crossover from confined to bulk chain dynamics is expected.     

Field-gradient NMR diffusometry in poly(ethylene oxide) melts confined to nanoscopic pores of solid methacrylate matrices

Depending on the choice of matrix constituents, the diameters of strands of linear, monodisperse poly(ethylene oxide) confined to nanoscopic pores of cross-linked methacrylate matrices can be varied considerably. The samples were characterized by DSC, TEM, SEM and fringe field-gradient NMR diffusometry with respect to the strand diameter. A formalism evaluating diffusive spin echo attenuation curves based on the tube/reptation model allows the determination of the strand diameter. Values in the range 8-58 nm were found in accordance with TEM and SEM micrographs of shadow-cast freeze-fractured surfaces of the samples.     

De-mixing dynamics of a binary liquid system in a controlled-pore glass. A neutron spin-echo spectroscopy and small angle neutron scattering study

The temperature-induced microphase separation of the binary liquid system iso-butyric acid+heavy water (iBA + D(2)O) in a mesoporous silica glass (CPG-10-75) of nominal pore width 7.5 nm was investigated by neutron spin-echo spectroscopy (NSE) and neutron small-angle scattering (SANS). Two mixtures of different composition were studied at different scattering angles at temperatures above and below the bulk phase transition temperature. The phase separation in the pore space is found to occur at a lower temperature than the bulk transition and extends over a significant temperature range. The effective diffusion coefficient derived from NSE at low scattering angles is found to decrease by one order of magnitude from 70 degrees C to 20 degrees C. This observation is attributed to the growing size of concentration fluctuations having a cut-off at ca. 8 nm, which corresponds to the mean pore size. The dynamics of the concentration fluctuations appears to be strongly influenced by the confinement in the pores, as it differs strongly from the bulk behaviour. These results are consistent with the preliminary results of the SANS study.     

1H and 2H NMR studies of benzene confined in porous solids: melting point depression and pore size distribution

The pore size distributions of four controlled pore glasses and three silica gels with nominal diameters in the range 4-24 nm were determined by measuring the 1H and 2H NMR signals from the non-frozen fraction of confined benzene and perdeuterated benzene as a function of temperature, in steps of ca. 0.1-1 K. The liquid and solid components of the adsorbate were distinguished, on the basis of the spin-spin relaxation time T2, by employing a spin-echo sequence. The experimental intensity curves of the liquid component are well represented by a sum of two error functions. The mean melting point depression of benzene and perdeuterated benzene confined in the four controlled pore glasses, with pore radius R, follows the simplified Gibbs-Thompson equation DeltaT=kp/R with a kp value of 44 K nm. As expected, the kp value mainly determines the position of the pore size distribution curve, i.e., the mean pore radius, while the transition width determines the shape of the pore size distribution curve. The excellent agreement between the results from the 1H and 2H measurements shows that the effect of the background absorption from protons in physisorbed water and silanol groups is negligible under the experimental conditions used. The overall pore size distributions determined by NMR are in reasonable agreement with the results specified by the manufacturer, or measured by us using the N2 sorption technique. The NMR method, which is complementary to the conventional gas sorption method, is particularly appropriate for studying pore sizes in the mesoporous range.     

Dynamics and phase behaviour of materials in confined geometry

Phase transitions and dynamics of the liquid crystal MBBA [N-( p-methoxybenzylidene)-p-n-butylaniline] microconfined within porous glasses of average pore diameters: 82 and 337 Å were investigated by ¹H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). Confinement is found to favour the depression of phase transition temperatures below the corresponding transitions of bulk MBBA. Confinement induces further effects for the molecular dynamics related to the phase investigated. The correlation times of the molecular motions were obtained and the results are discussed by making comparison with the bulk analysis.     

Structural relaxation of formic acid and its interaction with water and Xe at cryogenic temperatures

The glass-liquid transition of the amorphous HCOOH films and the reorganization of hydrogen-bonds of HCOOH during interactions with adsorbed D₂O and Xe have been investigated on the basis of temperature-programmed TOF-SIMS and TPD. On the as-deposited HCOOH film at 15 K, the physisorbed Xe atom permeates through pores and is trapped in the bulk during pore collapse upon heating. The hydrogen bonds of the HCOOH film are persistent up to 125 K as revealed from the interaction with the adsorbed D₂O molecules. The translational molecular diffusion commences at 125 K and dewetting of the HCOOH film follows at 150 K. The Xe atom incorporated in the bulk of the HCOOH film desorbs at 150 K concomitantly with dewetting of the film. These phenomena can be explained in terms of the glass-liquid transition of formic acid and the slow evolution of fluidity in the supercooled liquid phase.     

Flow-enhanced molecular reorientations and interfacial slip probed by field-cycling NMR relaxometry in microscopic pores

It is shown that hydrodynamic flow has an effect on spin-lattice relaxation in water filled into a porous monolithic silica material. This is a rotational analogue of translational hydrodynamic (or Taylor-Aris) dispersion arising from incoherent Brownian motion in combination with coherent flow. The effect is demonstrated with the aid of field-cycling NMR relaxometry and confirmed by theoretical considerations. The results directly verify bulk mediated surface diffusion and reveal interfacial slip at fluid-solid interfaces.     

NMR investigations of hexamethyldisilane confined in controlled pore glasses: Pore size distribution and molecular dynamics studies

In this work, the melting-point depression and molecular dynamics of hexamethyldisilane confined within five controlled pore glasses, with mean diameters ranging from 7.9 to 23.9 nm, are studied by high-field (9.4 T) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and the results are discussed with reference to the bulk substance. The melting-point depression in pores with radiusR follows the simplified Gibbs-Thompson equation ΔT=k _p/(R−s) with ak _p value of 74 K · nm and ans value of 1 nm. To our knowledge, this is the first time thek _p value of hexamethyldisilane is reported. Proton spin-lattice relaxation times (T ₁), spin-spin relaxation times (T ₂), and diffusivities (D) are reported as a function of temperature. The confinement in the pores gives rise to substantial changes in the molecular dynamics and the phase behavior. The line-shape measurements reveal a two-phase system assigned to a relatively mobile component at the pore walls and a crystalline solid at the center of the pores. However, theT ₂ measurements show that the mobile phase also embraces a minor component attributed to nonfrozen liquid in pockets or micropores. The diffusivity of the major narrow-line component is approximately three orders of magnitude larger than that in the plastic bulk phase, reflecting fast diffusion of mobile molecules. Below the melting region,T ₁ of the narrow line is significantly shorter thanT ₁ of the broad line, suggesting that the molecular reorientation is more hindered close to the surface than at the center of the pore.     

Peculiarities of melting and crystallization of n-decane in a porous glass

Melting and crystallization of n-decane embedded into porous glass with the mean pore size of about 6.4 nm were studied using acoustic and DSC methods. Smearing of the phase transitions, decrease of melting and freezing temperatures, pronounced hysteresis between melting and crystallization were revealed by both methods. In DSC measurements for the pore filling factors 70% and higher double peaks were observed upon cooling while only single peaks were present upon heating. Also a high reduction of the corresponding phase transition heats was revealed. Melting and freezing intervals determined by acoustic and DSC methods strongly differed from each other. A model which qualitatively explains the observed anomalies is proposed. It supposes the formation of liquid layers on the surface of the pores.     

A field-cycling NMR study of nematic 4-pentyl-4′-cyanobiphenyl confined in porous glasses

The proton spin-lattice relaxation time T₁, in the nematic liquid crystal 4-pentyl-4′-cyanobiphenyl confined in a glassy porous matrix has been measured in a wide Larmor frequency range of 1 · 10²?2 · 10⁷ Hz employing the fast field-cycling NMR technique. A strong influence of the restricted geometry on the character of the T₁ dispersion was found. Our investigation clearly demonstrates the importance of the translationally induced molecular reorientations in inhomogeneous director field for the relaxation in the samples with 200 and 80 nm mean pore size. The experimental results are in a good agreement with the theoretical predictions. In the sample with 7 nm pore size the main contribution to the relaxation is ascribed to the slowing down of the molecular motion in the near-surface layer. Zero-field 1H NMR spectra of a microconfined liquid crystal are reported for the first time.     

Nuclear magnetic resonance cryoporometry

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) cryoporometry is a technique for non-destructively determining pore size distributions in porous media through the observation of the depressed melting point of a confined liquid. It is suitable for measuring pore diameters in the range 2 nm–1 μm, depending on the absorbate. Whilst NMR cryoporometry is a perturbative measurement, the results are independent of spin interactions at the pore surface and so can offer direct measurements of pore volume as a function of pore diameter. Pore size distributions obtained with NMR cryoporometry have been shown to compare favourably with those from other methods such as gas adsorption, DSC thermoporosimetry, and SANS. The applications of NMR cryoporometry include studies of silica gels, bones, cements, rocks and many other porous materials. It is also possible to adapt the basic experiment to provide structural resolution in spatially-dependent pore size distributions, or behavioural information about the confined liquid.     

Chain dynamics in mesoscopically confined polymer melts. A field-cycling NMR relaxometry study

Polymer chain dynamics were studied with the aid of field-cycling NMR relaxometry (time scale: 10^-9s... 10^-4s) supplemented by field gradient NMR diffusometry (time scale: 10^-4s...10⁰s). Three sorts of samples of mesoscopically confined polymer melts were examined. In the first sample series, linear poly(ethylene oxide) was incorporated in strands embedded in a quasi-solid and impenetrable methacrylate matrix. The strand diameters ranged from 10 to 60 nm. It was shown that chain dynamics becomes dramatically different from bulk behavior. This so-called “corset effect” occurs both above and below the critical molecular mass and reveals dynamic features predicted for reptation. On the time scale of spin-lattice relaxation, the frequency and molecular weight, signature of reptation, T₁ ∼M⁰ ν^3/4, that is limit II of the Doi/Edwards formalism corresponding to the mean squared segment displacement law 〈r² 〉∼M⁰ t^1/4, showed up. A “tube” diameter of only 0.6 nm was concluded to be effective on this time scale even when the strand diameter was larger than the radius of gyration of the PEO random coils. The corset effect is traced back to the lack of the local fluctuation capacity of the free volume under nanoscopic confinements. The confinement dimension at which the cross-over from confined to bulk chain dynamics is expected was estimated to be micrometers. Using the so-called roll-coating technique, micrometer thick polymer melt layers between Kapton foils were prepared. Perceptible differences from the bulk materials were found. The polymer species studied in this case was perfluoropolyether with Flory radii in the order of 7 nm. Remarkably, the confinement effect was shown to reach polymer-wall distances of the order 100 Flory radii. As a third confinement system, melts of perfluoropolyether were filled into a porous silica glass (Vycor; 4 nm nominal pore size). In this case, a crossover from Rouse dynamics in the bulk to reptation in the Doi/Edwards limit III (T₁∼M^-1/2 ν^1/2 corresponding to 〈r² 〉∼M^-1/2 t^1/2) was observed.     

Probing the phase transition behavior of acetonitrile confined in mesoporous silica by FT Raman spectroscopy

Phase transitions of acetonitrile confined in mesoporous silica SBA‐15 and mesocellular silica foam (MCF) having different pore diameters of 39.0, 39.9, 28.4, 8.7, and 4.6 nm with corresponding pore openings of 20.9, 12.1, 10.0, 8.7, and 4.6 nm were investigated by FT Raman spectroscopy. Melting and freezing temperature depressions were found for acetonitrile confined in mesoporous silica with pore opening sizes of 20.9, 12.1, 10.0 and 8.7 nm. A thermal hysteresis between the cooling and heating cycles was also observed. It appears that the smaller the pore opening, the larger the depression of melting or freezing temperature. Although two solid ( and ) phases exist in bulk acetonitrile, only the liquid →β phase transition was detected for acetonitrile confined in the nanopores of mesoporous silica. The solid‐to‐solid phase transition was not observed. For the mesoporous silica with the smallest pore size of 4.6 nm, neither the liquid nor the transition was observed for the confined acetonitrile. The results demonstrate that FT Raman spectroscopy is a useful technique for studying the phase transition behavior of organic compounds confined in silica‐based hosts. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Segmental dynamics of poly(methyl phenyl siloxane) confined to nanoporous glasses

The effect of a nanometer confinement on the molecular dynamics of poly(methyl phenyl siloxane) (PMPS) was studied by dielectric spectroscopy (DS), temperature modulated DSC (TMDSC) and neutron scattering (NS). Nanoporous glasses with pore sizes of 2.5–20 nm have been used. DS and TMDSC experiments show that for PMPS in 7.5 nm pores the molecular dynamics is faster than in the bulk which originates from an inherent length scale of the underlying molecular motions. For high temperatures the temperature dependence of the relaxation rates for confined PMPS crosses that of the bulk state. Besides finite states effects also the thermodynamic state of nano-confined PMPS is different from that of the bulk. At a pore size of 5 nm the temperature dependence of the relaxation times changes from a Vogel/Fulcher/Tammann like to an Arrhenius behavior where the activation energy depends on pore size. This is in agreement with the results obtained by NS. The increment of the specific heat capacity at the glass transition depends strongly on pore size and vanishes at a finite length scale between 3 and 5 nm which can be regarded as minimal length scale for glass transition to appear in PMPS.     

Phase transitions of fluids confined in porous silicon: A differential calorimetry investigation

The phase transitions of non-polar organic fluids and of water, confined in the pores of porous silicon samples, were investigated by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). Two types of PS samples (p^- and p⁺ type) with different pore size and morphology were used (with spherical pores with a radius of about 1.5 nm and cylindrical shape with a radius of about 4 nm respectively). The DSC results clearly show that the smaller the pores are, the larger is the decrease in the transition temperature. Moreover, a larger hysteresis between melting and freezing is observed for p⁺ type than for p^- type samples. A critical review of the thermodynamical properties of small particles and confined fluids is presented and used to interpret and discuss our DSC results. The effects of the chemical dissolution as well as the influence of anodization time are presented, showing that thick p⁺ type porous silicon layers are non-homogeneous. The DSC technique which was used for the first time to investigate fluids confined in porous silicon, enables us to deduce original information, such as the pore size distribution, the decrease in the freezing temperature of confined water, and the thickness of non-freezing liquid layer at the pore wall surface. Received: 11 May 1998 / Revised and Accepted: 29 July 1998     

Dynamic NMR investigation of plastic crystals in bulk and confined in porous materials

In this work, the molecular dynamics of four organic compounds confined in silica pores of nominal diameter 6 and 20 nm are studied by high-field (9.4 T) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and the results are discussed with reference to the bulk substances. By using organic compounds forming soft plastic crystals on freezing as adsorbates, damage to the pore structures can be avoided. NMR lineshapes, spin-lattice relaxation times (T ₁), spin-spin relaxation timesT ₂ and diffusivities are reported as a function of temperature. Since the porous grains are much greater than the distance travelled by the molecules during the experiment, intracrystalline NMR parameters were obtained. However, the shortT ₂ (∼1 ms) encountered in both the bulk and confined samples prohibited measurements ofT ₂ and the diffusivity in the low-temperature ordered phases. The confinement in the pores gives rise to substantial changes in the phase behavior and molecular dynamics. Thus, the¹H lineshape observations of the confined samples clearly reveal a narrow-line component superimposed on a broad resonance at temperatures well below the transition point of the bulk material. In the freezing region, the narrow-line component is attributed to the surface layer and the undercooled liquid in the smaller pores that remains unfrozen. In the two-component, low-temperature region, the narrow component corresponds to the surface layer, while the broad component originates from the crystalline phase at the center of the pores.     

Evidence of microphase separation in controlled pore glasses

The phase separation of a mixture of water and isobutyric acid (iBA) confined in the pore space of Controlled Pore Glass (CPG) 10-75 has been studied by ¹H NMR relaxometry and ¹H-pulsed field gradient (PFG) diffusion measurements. For an acid-rich mixture (mass fraction 54 wt% iBA), evidence of a phase separation process in the pores was obtained, which occurs in a temperature window between 32 and 39 °C, as indicated in the PFG data by an anomalous temperature dependence of the diffusion coefficient and in the relaxation data by a bi-exponential magnetization decay. The phase separation temperature of the mixture in the pore is slightly lower than in the bulk mixture of the same composition (41 °C) and extends over a finite temperature range. A qualitative model of the phase separation process in the pores is developed, which assumes a temperature-dependent domain-like structure of the liquid below the phase transition temperature and a breakdown of these domains upon reaching the transition temperature.     

An NMR investigation of naphthalene nanostructures

The molecular mobility of naphthalene molecules in porous silica has been studied over the temperature range 223?K to 363?K using NMR relaxation times T ₂, T ₁ and T _1ρ. The investigations were conducted in silicas with nominal pore diameters of 4?nm, 6?nm, 10?nm, 20?nm and 50?nm. The confined solid behaved in a way that indicated it formed a dual phase system consisting of a solid core in the centre of the pores surrounded by a mobile surface layer. The core naphthalene had the same line width as the bulk. The surface layer exhibited a narrower line of a width that suggested the onset of motional narrowing. This behaviour was characteristic of a plastic crystal phase for naphthalene that does not exist in the bulk. The T ₁ and T _1ρ results were dominated by surface interactions between the confined naphthalene and the pore wall. Magnetization transfer experiments showed that enhanced relaxation occurred throughout the confined material in a time long compared to T ₂ but short compared to T ₁ and T _1ρ. Since the line shape ruled out diffusional motion through the rigid lattice naphthalene core, the magnetization transfer must have occurred via spin diffusion.