A solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
method is presented for spectroscopic adsorption studies
of organic pollutant compounds on surfaces of
powders under environmentally relevant hydration
conditions. The applicability of the solid state NMR
spectroscopy was investigated using pyridine as
a model adsorbate and a clay mineral, hectorite, as
an adsorbent. Solid state 15N magic angle
spinning
(MAS) and cross-polarization (CP)/MAS NMR methods
were used to study adsorption of [15N]pyridine
on
fully hydrated and on dehydrated homoionic K-, Ca-,
Mg-, and Al-hectorites. Powder X-ray diffraction
(XRD) was used to determine the expansion of basal
spacings and to confirm intercalation of pyridine
into clay interlayers. With the exception of hydrated
Al-hectorite, more intense signals were obtained with
MAS than with CP/MAS, and cross-polarization was
less efficient on dehydrated clay/pyridine samples
than on hydrated ones, indicative of a higher mobility
of pyridine in the interlayers of dehydrated clays
compared to hydrated ones. Pyridine interacted
primarily through hydrogen bonding to the interlayer
water on the hydrated hectorites. On the dehydrated
K-hectorite (d
001 = 10.7 Å before pyridine
adsorption),
pyridine solvated the interlayers. Dehydrated Ca-
and Mg-hectorites (d
001 = 12.9 and 12.8 Å,
respectively,
before pyridine adsorption) retained one layer of
hydration water to which pyridine hydrogen bonds.
Intercalation of pyridine was facilitated by the
presence of water, the extreme case being Al-hectorite
where almost no intercalation was observed without
water. Spinning sidebands were only observed for
the pyridine resonance between −90 and −94 ppm.
This anisotropic species is assigned to the pyridine
keying into the ditrigonal hole, hydrogen bonded to
the proton of structural OH. The results clearly show
that 15N NMR of an adsorbed N-containing
organic
compound is a powerful tool for identifying and
distinguishing various surface complexes and adducts
on hydrated mineral surfaces.