Nuclear spin relaxation in liquids and gases

Abstract

This report reviews the progress in the field of NMR relaxation in fluids. The emphasis is on comparatively simple liquids and solutions of physico-chemical and chemical interest, in analogy with the previous periods, but selected biophysicsrelated topics and relaxation-related work on more complex systems (macromolecular solutions, liquid crystalline systems, glassy and porous materials) are also covered. The period under review is from June 2011 through May 2012. Some earlier works, overlooked in last year's chapter, are also included. The outline of this chapter is as follows: section 2 which follows the introduction covers the general, physical and experimental aspects of nuclear spin relaxation in liquids and is further divided in seven subsections. The first two are fairly general and the following three discuss more specific aspects of spin-1/2 systems. The last two subsections cover quadrupolar nuclei and paramagnetic systems, respectively. Section 3 deals with applications of NMR relaxation in liquids, starting with pure liquids and continuing with solutions of low-molecular weight compounds. It also includes a selection of works on solutions of biological macromolecules and other complex systems. The progress in the field of relaxation in gases is described in section 4.