Use of PFG NMR, stochastic reconstruction and molecular simulation to estimate transport-related texture characteristics of advanced porous materials

Abstract: Knowledge of a functional relationship between diffusion of fluids in porous solids and their microstructure is a conditio sine qua non to solve numerous problems of material science, catalysis, biophysics and many other areas. The impact of this knowledge increases due to a rapid development of nanotechnologies and advanced materials. The principal goal of this project is to establish such a relationship for porous materials filled with liquid phase (one- and two-component) or with co-existing liquid-vapour. The proposed solution of the problem is based on combined diffusion measurements by liquid chromatography and PFG NMR technique and on stochastic reconstruction of the porous structure based on the image analysis. Also there will be examined the feasibility PFG NMR measurements of diffusion coefficients near the frontier between subcritical and supercritical region. The approach will be applied to transport study in selected advanced materials such as membrane materials, catalysts, carbon-based aerogels and xerogels, porous polymers etc.