X-Nuclei NMR Self-Diffusion Studies in Mesoporous Silica Foam and Microporous MOF CuBTC

A standard X-observe NMR probe was equipped with a z-gradient coil to enable high-sensitivity pulsed field gradient NMR diffusion studies of Li+ and Cs+ cations of aqueous salt solutions in a high-porosity mesocellular silica foam (MCF) and of CO2 adsorbed in metal-organic frameworks (MOF). The coil design and the necessary probe modifications, which yield pulsed field gradients of up to ±16.2Tm−1, are introduced. The system was calibrated at 2H resonance frequency and successfully applied for diffusion studies at 7Li, 23Na, 13C and 133Cs frequencies. Significant reductions of the diffusivities of the cations in LiClac and CsClac solution introduced into MCFs are observed. By comparison of the diffusion behavior with the bulk solutions, a tortuosity of the silica foam of 4.5 ± 0.6 was derived. Single component self-diffusion of CO2 and CH4 (measured by 1H NMR) as well as self-diffusion of the individual components in CO2/CH4 mixtures was studied in the MOF CuBTC. The experimental results confirm high mobilities of the adsorbed gases and trends for diffusion separation factors predicted by MD simulations

On the Impact of Sorbent Mobility on the Sorbed Phase Equilibria and Dynamics: A Study of Methane and Carbon Dioxide within the Zeolite Imidazolate Framework-8

The presented work aims at exploring the influence of the mobility of the sorbent framework on both the equilibrium and the kinetic properties of the sorbed phase by means of molecular dynamics computer experiments under isochoric–isothermal and isobaric–isothermal statistical ensembles for several host model options, combined by Widom averaging along the entire trajectory of the host–guest system toward rigorously obtained sorbate isotherms within a fully flexible lattice. The methodology is adapted to the study of the self-diffusivity and the collective (Maxwell–Stefan and transport) diffusivities of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) within the zeolite imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8). The simulation predictions are compared with measurements from pulsed-field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (PFG NMR), as well as with recently conducted infrared microscopy (IRM) experiments elaborated on the basis of the current modeling in the flexible ZIF-8. The modeling results reveal a significant influence on sorbate transport exerted by the 2-methilimidazolate ligands surrounding the cage-to-cage entrances, whose apertures are commensurate with the guest molecular dimensions. Moreover, calculations of the singlet probability density distribution of the sorbate molecules at selected regions within the imidazolate framework provide a plausible explanation of the transport diffusivity as a function of sorbate occupancy, measured via IRM

Hull of H.M.A.S. Australia with three workers beneath, Cockatoo Island Dock, Sydney, 4 June 1930 [picture].

Title devised from accompanying information where available.; Part of the: Fairfax archive of glass plate negatives.; Fairfax number: 6945.; Also available online at: http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn6266612; Acquired from Fairfax Media, 2012

NMR studies of carbon dioxide and methane self-diffusion in ZIF-8 at elevated gas pressures

Self-diffusion measurements with methane and carbon dioxide adsorbed in the Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework- 8 (ZIF-8) were performed by 1H and 13C pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (PFG NMR). The experiments were conducted at 298 K and variable pressures of 7 to 15 bar in the gas phase above the ZIF-8 bed. Via known adsorption isotherms these pressures were converted to loadings of the adsorbed molecules. The self-diffusion coefficients of carbon dioxide measured by PFG NMR are found to be independent of loading. They are in good agreement with results from molecular dynamic (MD) simulations and resume the trend previously found by IR microscopy at lower loadings. Methane diffuses in ZIF-8 only slightly slower than carbon dioxide. Its experimentally obtained self-diffusion coefficients are about a factor of two smaller than the corresponding values determined by MD simulations using flexible framework