Interpretation of NMR Relaxation as a Tool for Characterising the Adsorption Strength of Liquids inside Porous Materials

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation times are shown to provide a unique probe of adsorbate–adsorbent interactions in liquid‐saturated porous materials. A short theoretical analysis is presented, which shows that the ratio of the longitudinal to transverse relaxation times (T1/T2) is related to an adsorbate–adsorbent interaction energy, and we introduce a quantitative metric esurf (based on the relaxation time ratio) characterising the strength of this surface interaction. We then consider the interaction of water with a range of oxide surfaces (TiO2 anatase, TiO2 rutile, γ‐Al2O3, SiO2, θ‐Al2O3 and ZrO2) and show that esurf correlates with the strongest adsorption sites present, as determined by temperature programmed desorption (TPD). Thus we demonstrate that NMR relaxation measurements have a direct physical interpretation in terms of the characterisation of activation energy of desorption from the surface. Further, for a series of chemically similar solid materials, in this case a range of oxide materials, for which at least two calibration values are obtainable by TPD, the esurf parameter yields a direct estimate of the maximum activation energy of desorption from the surface. The results suggest that T1/T2 measurements may become a useful addition to the methods available to characterise liquid‐phase adsorption in porous materials. The particular motivation for this work is to characterise adsorbate–surface interactions in liquid‐phase catalysis. The ratio of NMR relaxation times, T1/T2, can provide a unique probe of adsorbate–adsorbent interactions in liquid‐saturated porous materials (see figure). This method has been used to study the interaction of water with a range of oxide surfaces (TiO2 anatase, TiO2 rutile, γ‐Al2O3, SiO2, θ‐Al2O3 and ZrO2).