Jiri Jonas is funded by a grant from the Theoretical and Computational Chemistry Program to continue his experimental research in the dynamic structure of liquids. NMR and laser Raman scattering techniques will be used to study molecular motions, intermolecular and intramolecular interactions in liquids. The research will focus on five areas: 1) NMR and Raman studies of the dynamics of liquids confined to nanoporous silica glasses; 2) High pressure NMR relaxation and chemical shift experiments on hydrogen bonded liquids and their binary mixtures; 3) The high pressure, variable temperature study of intramolecular Raman non-coincidence effect in model phthalate liquids to examine the effects of pressure and temperature on conformation; 4) High pressure 2D NOSEY NMR studies of alkyl benzoates; and 5) Systematic NMR relaxation studies of the dynamic structure of complex viscous liquids over pressures ranging from 1 bar to 9 kbar.
The studies of liquids in confined geometries has technological applications in many fields including catalysis, chromatography, membrane separations, and liquid permeability in geological formations which is important for tertiary oil recovery.
