Volume 53, Issue 37 pp. 9788-9791
Communication

A High-Pressure NMR Probe for Aqueous Geochemistry

Dr. Brent G. Pautler

Dr. Brent G. Pautler

Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616 (USA)

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Christopher A. Colla

Christopher A. Colla

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Davis (USA)

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Dr. Rene L. Johnson

Dr. Rene L. Johnson

Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616 (USA)

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Peter Klavins

Peter Klavins

Department of Physics, University of California, Davis (USA)

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Dr. Stephen J. Harley

Dr. Stephen J. Harley

Energetic Materials Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Ave. Livermore, CA 94550 (USA)

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Dr. C. André Ohlin

Dr. C. André Ohlin

School of Chemistry, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Clayton VIC 3800 (Australia)

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Prof. Dimitri A. Sverjensky

Prof. Dimitri A. Sverjensky

Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (USA)

Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015 (USA)

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Dr. Jeffrey H. Walton

Dr. Jeffrey H. Walton

NMR Facility, University of California, Davis (USA)

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Prof. William H. Casey

Corresponding Author

Prof. William H. Casey

Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616 (USA)

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Davis (USA)

Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616 (USA)Search for more papers by this author
First published: 02 July 2014
Citations: 16

This work is supported by the Department of Energy grant DE-FG02-05ER15693 and by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA2734 LLNL-JRNL-654755. Additional funding sources and awknowledgements are listed in the Supporting Information.

Graphical Abstract

A non-magnetic piston-cylinder pressure cell has been developed for solution-state NMR spectroscopy up to 20 kbar for aqueous geochemical applications. 11B NMR spectroscopic investigations into the H3BO3–catechol equilibrium demonstrates a large pressure-driven exchange rate. The success of these experiments suggests that this probe design can be applied to a wide variety of NMR-active nuclei.

Abstract

A non-magnetic piston-cylinder pressure cell is presented for solution-state NMR spectroscopy at geochemical pressures. The probe has been calibrated up to 20 kbar using in situ ruby fluorescence and allows for the measurement of pressure dependencies of a wide variety of NMR-active nuclei with as little as 10 μL of sample in a microcoil. Initial 11B NMR spectroscopy of the H3BO3–catechol equilibria reveals a large pressure-driven exchange rate and a negative pressure-dependent activation volume, reflecting increased solvation and electrostriction upon boron-catecholate formation. The inexpensive probe design doubles the current pressure range available for solution NMR spectroscopy and is particularly important to advance the field of aqueous geochemistry.

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