Measurements, self-diffusion

FIG. 9 Measured self-diffusion coefficients at 25°C for toluene (A), water ( ), acrylamide ( , and AOT ( ) in water, toluene, and AOT reverse microemulsions as a function of cosurfactant (acrylamide) concentration, f (wt%). The breakpoint at about 1.2% acrylamide approximately denotes, the onset of percolation in electrical conductivity. 

Field gradient spin echo method of measuring self-diffusion, encompasses SGSE and PGSE variants. 

In polymers, the field-gradient spin-echo methods of measuring self-diffusion have been useful in three more or less distinct areas, the diffusion of polymers in their own melt and in concentrated solutions, in dilute and semidilute solutions, and the diffusion of penetrants and diluents in polymer hosts. A fourth category, the diffusion of bulky or flexible molecules in polymer hosts, is useful for subject matter not closely associated with the first and third category. It should be noted that the work reviewed here represents only a small fraction of the diffusion studies in polymers, including those using other NMR methods. 

Figure 3.1 Diffusion couple for measuring self-diffusion in pure material. A small...

To measure self-diffusivities along different directions in a hexagonal crystal, a flat surface is prepared perpendicular to the direction along which the dif-... 

Equation 5.18 offers a convenient technique for measuring self-diffusion coefficients. A thin layer of radioactive isotope deposited on the surface of a flat specimen serves as an instantaneous planar source. After the specimen is diffusion annealed, the isotope concentration profile is determined. With these data, Eq. 5.18 can be written... 

The NMR technique for measuring self-diffusion in liquids was first reported in 1965390, and its variant for multicomponent mixtures became available with the introduction of the Fourier transform. Wider use had to wait until pulsed field gradients became generally... 

Pulsed field gradient NMR (PFG-NMR) is a powerful, nondestructive technique of measuring self-diffusion coefficients in a colloidal dispersion [69-71]. Molecules associated with an aggregate or a particle will diffuse more slowly than their free dissolving state. More specifically, when a water-soluble species is partially adsorbed onto an abrasive particle, the measured overall diffusion coefficient (D ) of the species is decreased. If the diffusion coefficient of the free dissolving species can be measured in the absence... 

Zawodzinski et al. [64] have reported self-diffusion coefficients of water in Nafion 117 (EW 1100), Membrane C (EW 900), and Dow membranes (EW 800) equilibrated with water vapor at 303 K, and obtained results summarized in Fig. 36. The self-diffusion coefficients were deterinined by pulsed field gradient NMR methods. These studies probe water motion over a distance scale on the order of microns. The general conclusion was the PFSA membranes with similar water contents. A, had similar water self-diffusion coefficients. The measured self-diffusion coefficients in Nafion 117 equilibrated with water vapor decreased by more than an order of magnitude, from roughly 8 x 10 cm /s down to 5 x 10 cm /s as water content in the membrane decreased from A = 14 to A = 2. For a Nafion membrane equilibrated with water vapor at unit activity, the water self-diffusion coefficient drops to a level roughly four times lower than that in bulk liquid water whereas a difference of only a factor of two in local mobility is deduced from NMR relaxation measurements. This is reasonably ascribed to the additional effect of tortuosity of the diffusion path on the value of the macrodiffusion coefficient. For immersed Nafion membranes, NMR diffusion imaging studies showed that water diffusion coefficients similar to those measured in liquid water (2.2 x 10 cm /s) could be attained in a highly hydrated membrane (1.7 x 10 cm /s) [69]. 

It has recently become more widely appreciated that the presence of rotational diffusional anisotropy in proteins and other macromolecules can have a significant affect on the interpretation of NMR relaxation data in terms of molecular motion. Andrec et al. used a Bayesian statistical method for the detection and quantification of rotational diffusion anisotropy from NMR relaxation data. Sturz and Dolle examined the reorientational motion of toluene in neat liquid by using relaxation measurements. The relaxation rates were analyzed by rotational diffusion models. Chen et al measured self-diffusion coefficients for fluid hydrogen and fluid deuterium at pressures up to 200 MPa and in the temperature range 171-372 K by the spin echo method. The diffusion coefficients D were described by the rough sphere (RHS) model invoking the rotation translational coupling parameter A = 1. 

Sturz and DoUe measured the temperature dependent dipolar spin-lattice relaxation rates and cross-correlation rates between the dipolar and the chemical-shift anisotropy relaxation mechanisms for different nuclei in toluene. They found that the reorientation about the axis in the molecular plane is approximately 2 to 3 times slower than the one perpendicular to the C-2 axis. Suchanski et al measured spin-lattice relaxation times Ti and NOE factors of chemically non-equivalent carbons in meta-fluoroanihne. The analysis showed that the correlation function describing molecular dynamics could be well described in terms of an asymmetric distribution of correlation times predicted by the Cole-Davidson model. In a comprehensive simulation study of neat formic acid Minary et al found good agreement with NMR relaxation time experiments in the liquid phase. Iwahashi et al measured self-diffusion coefficients and spin-lattice relaxation times to study the dynamical conformation of n-saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. 

In order to interpret the Na" " and Cs" " diffusional results in terms of this model, it is assumed that both cations would be able to diffuse readily in both the ionic clusters and interfacial regions. Cesium ion would experience a more tortuous diffusion path compared to sodium ion, and thus would have a smaller measured self-diffusion coefficient. The insensitivity of this diffusion coefficient to increasing water sorption may then be because most of this water serves to increase the size of ionic clusters, which would have a relatively minor overall effect on the diffusion path length. 

Independent self-diffusion measurements [38] of molecularly dispersed water in decane over the 8-50°C interval were used, in conjunction with the self-diffusion data of Fig. 6, to calculate the apparent mole fraction of water in the pseudocontinuous phase from the two-state model of Eq. (1). In these calculations, the micellar diffusion coefficient, Dmic, was approximated by the measured self-diffusion coefficient for AOT below 28°C, and by the linear extrapolation of these AOT data above 28°C. This apparent mole fraction x was then used to graphically derive the anomalous mole fraction x of water in the pseudocontinuous phase. These mole fractions were then used to calculate values for... 

Diffusion experiments at surfaces are designed to measure self-diffusion or the diffusion of adsorbates. The techniques used [49-55) may provide atomic-scale diffusion data or macroscopic diffusion parameters. The techniques that provide atomic-level information include (a) field ion microscopy, which can be used to observe the surface migration of isolated adatoms or clusters of atoms, (b) field electron microscopy, and (c) scanning tunneling microscopy (for descriptions of the techniques, see references [56-68]. Macroscopic mass transport along the surface can be monitored by the use of radiotracers or by techniques that monitor the restructuring of surfaces as a function of time. 

Pulsed field gradient methods may be used in combination with a spin-echo pulse sequence to measure average molecular displacements in a time In liquids, PFG methods can therefore be used to measure self-diffusion coefficients (i.e. the rate of diffusion due to Brownian motion in the absence of a concentration gradient). In porous media, there is the possibility of obtaining information about the pore geometry because the pore boundaries will influence molecular transport. PFG techniques can measure restricted diffusion and thus provide valuable information on pore sizes in the range 5-100 (im. 

A simple classification of the main macroscopic techniques is shown in Table 1, and this provides a useful framework for our review. Macroscopic measurements generally yield transport diffusivities, although variants of the techniques, using isotopically tagged tracers, can be devised to measure self-diffusivities. The large majority of the macroscopic techniques involve transient measurements. Steady-state or quasi-steady-state methods, notably membrane permeation and catalyst effectiveness measurements, have been demonstrated, but their application has been limited to a few systems. 

Since most microscopic techniques measure self-diffusion, whereas the macroscopic techniques generally measure transport diffusion, direct comparisons between the measured diffusivities are not meaningful, except in the... 

In tracer ZLC (TZLC) [28,51,58] the experiment is similar to the standard method, but the monitored species is the deuterated form of the sorbate. This introduces an additional cost for the material and the requirement for an online mass spectrometer. The advantages are the eUmination of all possible heat effects, strict Unearity of the equiUbrium between the fluid phase and the adsorbed phase, and the possibility of measuring directly the tracer diffusivities (which shoifld be the same as the microscopically measured self-diffusivity) over a wide range of loading. To reduce the costs the carrier is prepared with a mixture of pure and deuterated hydrocarbons. It has been shown that small imbalances in the concentration of the carrier and the purge streams do not affect the desorption dynamics [58]. 

Hayamizu and Akiba measured self-diffusion coefficients of lithium ion, anion and solvent in the electrolytes for lithium batteries. The self-association of some anions is discussed. Sekhon et u/. investigated the diffusive motion of cations and anions in polyethylene oxide based polymer electrolytes. Translational motion was found above Tg. 

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