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Petrik Galvosas

Publications and source records attributed to Petrik Galvosas.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Exploration of molecular dynamics during transient sorption of fluids in mesoporous materials.

In recent years, considerable progress has been made in the development of novel porous materials with controlled architectures and pore sizes in the mesoporous range. An important feature of these materials is the phenomenon of adsorption hysteresis: for certain ranges of applied pressure, the amount of a molecular species adsorbed by the mesoporous host is higher on desorption than on adsorption, indicating a failure of the system to equilibrate. Although this phenomenon has been known for over a century, the underlying internal dynamics responsible for the hysteresis remain poorly understood. Here we present a combined experimental and theoretical study in which microscopic and macroscopic aspects of the relaxation dynamics associated with hysteresis are quantified by direct measurement and computer simulations of molecular models. Using nuclear magnetic resonance techniques and Vycor porous glass as a model mesoporous system, we have explored the relationship between molecular self-diffusion and global uptake dynamics. For states outside the hysteresis region, the relaxation process is found to be essentially diffusive in character; within the hysteresis region, the dynamics slow down dramatically and, at long times, are dominated by activated rearrangement of the adsorbate density within the host material.

Journal Article↗

Fast magnetic resonance imaging and velocimetry for liquids under high flow rates.

We here demonstrate the use of NMR velocity imaging techniques to measure flow in a free falling jet of water at speeds up to and on the order of 1m/s. In particular, we show how to adapt the RARE imaging method, based on a CPMG multiple rf pulse train, so that the real and imaginary parts of the signal may be suitably acquired, enabling pulsed gradient spin echo encoding for flow. We term this method "soft-pulse-quadrature-cycled PGSE-RARE" or SPQC-PGSE-RARE. We further demonstrate the use of a one-dimensional (slice selective) imaging method which takes advantage of the cylindrical symmetry of the flow, and considerably shortens the image acquisition time.

Journal Article↗

Direct investigation of the fate of NAPL contaminations in a hydrating cement matrix by means of magnetic resonance techniques.

The behavior of nonwatery solvent phases in hydrating cement pastes is of great interest in the context of solidification of wastes containing such phases. In a recent study, the influence of various solvents on the hydration kinetics of cement was studied. In this paper, we present results on the changes in the behavior of the solvent phases themselves during setting of the cement pastes. The methods used in the studies were NMR relaxometry and pulsed field gradient (PFG) NMR diffusometry. To study selectively the behavior of the non-aqueous-phase liquid (NAPL) phases, heavy water was used in the preparation of the cement pastes. The experimental results are in good agreement with the observations from earlier studies concerning the behavior of toluene in hydrating cement. For aliphatic solvents (cyclooctane, n-hexanol), indications for surprisingly large networks of connected droplets in the cement matrices are found.

Construction Materials↗

Background gradient suppression in stimulated echo NMR diffusion studies using magic pulsed field gradient ratios.

By evaluating the spin echo attenuation for a generalized 13-interval PFG NMR sequence consisting of pulsed field gradients with four different effective intensities (F(p/r) and G(p/r)), magic pulsed field gradient (MPFG) ratios for the prepare (G(p)/F(p)) and the read (G(r)/F(r)) interval are derived, which suppress the cross term between background field gradients and the pulsed field gradients even in the cases where the background field gradients may change during the z-store interval of the pulse sequence. These MPFG ratios depend only on the timing of the pulsed gradients in the pulse sequence and allow a convenient experimental approach to background gradient suppression in NMR diffusion studies with heterogeneous systems, where the local properties of the (internal) background gradients are often unknown. If the pulsed field gradients are centered in the tau-intervals between the pi and pi/2 rf pulses, these two MPFG ratios coincide to eta=G(p/r)/F(p/r)=1-8/[1+(1/3)(delta/tau)(2)]. Since the width of the pulsed field gradients (delta) is bounded by 0< or =delta< or =tau, eta can only be in the range of 5< or =-eta< or =7. The predicted suppression of the unwanted cross terms is demonstrated experimentally using time-dependent external gradients which are controlled in the NMR experiment as well as spatially dependent internal background gradients generated by the magnetic properties of the sample itself. The theoretical and experimental results confirm and extend the approach of Sun et al. (J. Magn. Reson. 161 (2003) 168), who recently introduced a 13-interval type PFG NMR sequence with two asymmetric pulsed magnetic field gradients suitable to suppress unwanted cross terms with spatially dependent background field gradients.

Diffusion↗

PFG NMR and internal magnetic field gradients in plant-based materials.

In this contribution, it is demonstrated that inner magnetic field gradients can seriously affect the results of stimulated echo PFG NMR experiments on plant-based materials even if there is no notable content of paramagnetic substances. Such effects could be observed both in experiments on water in pharmaceutical grade cellulose powder materials and on eggplant fruit tissue. In both cases, it was observed that the effects of internal magnetic field gradients led to different relative values of the diffusion coefficient compared to values obtained with a gradient-compensating pulse sequence.

Cellulose↗