Multi-Quanta Spin-Locking Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Relaxation Measurements: An Analysis of the Long-Time Dynamical Properties of Ions and Water Molecules Confined within Dense Clay Sediments

Solid/liquid interfaces are exploited in various industrial applications because confinement strongly modifies the physico-chemical properties of bulk fluids. In that context, investigating the dynamical properties of confined fluids is crucial to identify and better understand the key factors responsible for their behavior and to optimize their structural and dynamical properties. For that purpose, we have developed multi-quanta spin-locking nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry of quadrupolar nuclei in order to fill the gap between the time-scales accessible by classical procedures (like dielectric relaxation, inelastic and quasi-elastic neutron scattering) and obtain otherwise unattainable dynamical information. This work focuses on the use of quadrupolar nuclei (like 2H, 7Li and 133Cs), because quadrupolar isotopes are the most abundant NMR probes in the periodic table. Clay sediments are the confining media selected for this study because they are ubiquitous materials implied in numerous industrial applications (ionic exchange, pollutant absorption, drilling, waste storing, cracking and heterogeneous catalysis).