Jiri Jonas is supported by a grant from The Theoretical and Computational Chemistry Program to continue his research in experimental studies of the dynamic structure of liquids using NMR and laser Raman spectroscopy. The major thrust of the research is to study liquids at high pressures and in confined regions. High resolution NMR of liquids under high pressures is being used to separate the effects of density and temperature on dynamical processes such as self-diffusion and shear viscosities. Recent work on the preparation of porous silica glasses by sol-gel processes have led to studies of both NMR and Raman spectra of liquids confined in glasses with well defined pore sizes from 10 A to 200 A. The main research directions to be explored include: 1) NMR studies of the applicability of the hydrodynamic Stokes-Einstein and Debye equations at the molecular level in liquids near their glass transition temperature; 2) NMR experiments dealing with confinement effects on angular momentum behavior in liquids; 3) NMR study of conformational isomerization in confined liquids; 4) Raman studies of confinement effects on vibrational and reorientational relaxation in liquids; and 5) NMR study of the pressure effects on hydrogen exchange in aqueous solutions of amides and polyamides. New information on liquids at the atomic and molecular level obtained through NMR studies of liquids at high pressure will help in understanding the function of lubricants. The studies of liquids in confined geometries has technological applications in many fields including catalysis, chromatography, membrane separations, and liquid permeability in geological formations.
