Diffusive motion of water molecules in harmotome studied by neutron scattering

The quasielastic neutron scattering from H2O and D2O in harmotome, a natural zeolite with the unit cell content Ba2(AlO2)4 (SiO2)12nH2O, has been measured at temperatures between 294 and 423 K with loadings of n = 2, 4, and 12 water molecules per unit cell. From the observed coherent scattering relaxation times for D‐D correlations from 2 to 11 ps were deduced. Fitting the incoherent quasielastic peaks from H2O to a two‐site jump model yielded residence times of the protons in the range from 4 to 6 ps.