Acquisition of a 500 MHz Solid State NMR Spectrometer

University Of California-Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Abstract

0213546 Casey This award will permit the purchase of a new 500 MHz NMR spectrometer to complement the existing spectrometer in the Keck Solid-State NMR Facility at the University of California at Davis. This new instrument is a wide-bore 500 MHz spectrometer with all of the features necessary for state-of-the-art multi-resonance, multi-dimensional studies of solid samples. The new spectrometer will be used for studies in Chemistry, Materials Science and Earth Science, although the principal investigators (PIs) of this proposal are earth scientists with immediate research needs. The PIs have integrated research that examines the earliest stages of mineral growth from solution and the controls on reaction rates. The PIs research groups rely heavily on NMR spectroscopy because it provides structural and kinetic information on X-ray amorphous materials in situ, including information about rates of chemical exchange over a large range in timescales. Purchase of this new spectrometer is supported by the University of California because it is also key to campus initiatives for growth of interdisciplinary research and faculty recruitment in the Earth and Environmental Sciences. Environmental materials are commonly poorly crystalline oxides or biomolecules where NMR spectroscopy is often the only suitable method for determining structure.