FlowNMR

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a powerful technique to probe structure, dynamic, and interaction at molecular level. Although NMR methods are now commonly used on a laboratory scale, they are generally configured for routine ex situ measurements. However, in many cases, understanding the mechanisms of chemical processes and other physicochemical phenomena requires investigations in operando or in situ mode.

This project aims to develop an on-line NMR measurement methodology for real-time observations by linking the chemical reactor to the NMR instrument via a flow recirculation set-up. The device is suitable for studying solutions or colloidal suspensions in order to probe various chemical transformations (catalytic, electrochemical, photoinduced, etc.) and physicochemical processes (equilibria, kinetics, adsorptions, encapsulations, diffusions, exchanges, etc.). Flow NMR offers several advantages over the conventional static tube configuration, which does not always reproduce the actual operating conditions of the system under study. Continuous flow observation will enable NMR to be combined with techniques whose experimental conditions are incompatible with an intense magnetic field, such as electrochemical setups (electrolysis, photoelectro-catalytic reactor, redox-flow system, etc.). It also allows NMR measurements to be coupled with other physical measurements, such as UV-vis spectroscopy using suitable optical fibers, or gas detection by chromatography. Such a unique system in Ile-de-France region opens up new prospects for applications in materials science for the environment and energy.