Nuclear magnetic resonance investigation of metallic sodium nanoparticles in porous glass

Sodium nanoparticles embedded in porous glass have been studied by NMR. The measurements have been carried out on pulse spectrometers in magnetic fields of 9.4 and 17.6 T in a wide temperature range. Changes in the magnitude and temperature dependence of the ²³Na Knight shift with respect to those in bulk sodium have been discovered. An additional component of the NMR line shifted to high frequencies has been observed in the temperature range from 240 to 100 K. Investigation of the specific heat has revealed a considerable decrease in the melting and crystallization temperatures of sodium under nanoconfinement, which were not accompanied by abrupt changes in the Knight shift.