Jay H. Baltisberger

Local structure and oxide-ion motion in defective perovskites

Abstract Macroscopic thermodynamic and transport properties of disordered materials are determined largely by their local structure, which may differ substantially from long-range crystalline symmetry. In order to better understand local structure and ionic motion in highly disordered perovskite oxides, we have investigated several cubic perovskites using high-temperature oxygen-17 NMR in conjunction with other experimental techniques. Materials we have studied include Ba(In 0.67 Zr 0.33 )O y , Ba(In 0.67 Ce 0.33 ) O y , (La 0.5 Ba 0.5 ) (Co 0.7 Cu 0.3 O y , and (La 0.6 Sr 0.4 ) (Co 0.8 Cu 0.2 ) O y . We show that despite having the long-range cubic symmetry as determined by X-ray and neutron powder diffraction, these materials possess microdomains with layered structures on a short length scale (50–500 A). These microdomains are apparent in HRTEM images of these materials, and manifest themselves as unit cell doublings in the electron diffraction patterns. Neutron powder profile refinements and oxygen- 17 DAS NMR both suggest that oxygen nuclei are displaced from sites of cubic symmetry in a manner reminiscent of layered perovskite-related structures. As is the case with known layered materials, the high temperature oxygen- 17 spectra and relaxation measurements show that few oxygen atoms are mobile below 800°C due to trapping of oxygen-ion vacancies in ordered layers. In the case of (La 0.6 Sr 0.4 ) (Co 0.8 Cu 0.2 ) O y , estimates of the vacancy trapping energy and the vacancy migration energy, extracted from NMR, appear to rationalize macroscopic transport measurements.

Multiple-quantum magic-angle spinning and dynamic-angle spinning NMR spectroscopy of quadrupolar nuclei

Several aspects of the Multiple-Quantum Magic-Angle Spinning (MQMAS) technique (L. Frydman and J.S. Harwood, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 117 (1995) 5367) are compared with Dynamic-Angle Spinning (DAS). Examples of MQMAS spectra are shown for I = 3/2 nuclei with CQ up to 3.6 MHz, and for 27Al (I = 5/2) with CQ up to 10 MHz. The MQMAS linewidth is largely independent of the magnitude of the homonuclear dipolar interaction, while the spinning sideband manifold is similar to that observed in DAS experiments. MQMAS is technically simple and routinely useful for studying nuclei with short spin-lattice relaxation times, but care must be taken in its use for quantitative studies as the excitation of the triple-quantum coherence is not uniform. In this regard, MQMAS is most useful for samples with small quadrupolar coupling constants. In the specific case of 17O, DAS would give spectra with excellent resolution in comparison to MQMAS. The different advantages of DAS and MQMAS make them useful complementary techniques in many cases. Two additional methods are also presented for extracting the chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) directly for quadrupolar nuclei using the multiple-quantum scheme.

Sidebands in dynamic angle spinning (DAS) and double rotation (DOR) NMR.

A theory of dynamic angle spinning (DAS) and double rotation (DOR) NMR is described using average Hamiltonian and irreducible tensor methods. Sideband intensities in DAS and DOR spectra are analyzed by both the moment and Bessel function methods, and general formulae are derived. Results show that the DAS moments depend on the relative rotor phase between the first and the second evolution periods, whereas the second and third DOR moments are independent of the relative phase between the inner and outer rotors. Sideband intensities in DAS spectra also depend on the relative rotor phases between evolution at the first and second angles, as well as on the ratio of time spent at each angle. Sideband intensities and phases in DOR spectra are related to the relative rotor phases between the inner and outer rotors, and the sideband pattern is determined by the ratio of the inner and outer rotor spinning speeds. An inversion symmetry of the odd numbered DOR sidebands at the relative rotor phase gamma r = 0 degree, 180 degrees permits the elimination of these sidebands. Finally, numerical simulations are implemented and shown to agree with experimental results. Quadrupolar parameters can therefore be recovered either by calculating the second and third moments or by simulating the sideband intensities and phases.

Cross-polarization dynamic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance of quadrupolar nuclei

The use of variable-angle spinning (VAS) with cross-polarization (CP) for quadrupolar nuclei has been evaluated both experimentally and theoretically. It is known that under normal spinning speeds the best VAS angle for performing CP is 0° (parallel to the magnetic field). We show that, with the use of dynamic-angle spinning (DAS) probes, CP may be done at 0° and detection in a one-dimensional VAS experiment may be performed at any angle in a zero-polarized VAS (ZPVAS) experiment. Finally, the combination of CP with k = 5 DAS (where the sample is spun first at 0° followed by 63·43°) provides both the highest resolution and the greatest sensitivity under normal conditions.

Dynamic-angle spinning without sidebands

Abstract By means of rotor-synchronized π-pulses, it is possible to eliminate the spinning sidebands (while retaining their full intensity in the isotropic centerband) that usually arise in dynamic-angle spinning (DAS) NMR. The theory of this approach, dynamic-angle hopping (DAH-180), is described and illustrated with experimental results on quadrupolar nuclei. A magic-angle hopping (MAH-180) version of magic-angle spinning is also possible and can be used in a two-dimensional NMR experiment to produce sideband-free isotropic—anisotropic correlation spectra for spin- 1 2 nuclei.

Two-dimensional NMR Measurement and Point Dipole Model Prediction of Paramagnetic Shift Tensors in Solids

A new two-dimensional Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) experiment to separate and correlate the first-order quadrupolar and chemical/paramagnetic shift interactions is described. This experiment, which we call the shifting-d echo experiment, allows a more precise determination of tensor principal components values and their relative orientation. It is designed using the recently introduced symmetry pathway concept. A comparison of the shifting-d experiment with earlier proposed methods is presented and experimentally illustrated in the case of (2)H (I = 1) paramagnetic shift and quadrupolar tensors of CuCl2⋅2D2O. The benefits of the shifting-d echo experiment over other methods are a factor of two improvement in sensitivity and the suppression of major artifacts. From the 2D lineshape analysis of the shifting-d spectrum, the (2)H quadrupolar coupling parameters are 〈Cq〉 = 118.1 kHz and 〈ηq〉 = 0.88, and the (2)H paramagnetic shift tensor anisotropy parameters are 〈ζP〉 = - 152.5 ppm and 〈ηP〉 = 0.91. The orientation of the quadrupolar coupling principal axis system (PAS) relative to the paramagnetic shift anisotropy principal axis system is given by (α,β,γ)=(π2,π2,0). Using a simple ligand hopping model, the tensor parameters in the absence of exchange are estimated. On the basis of this analysis, the instantaneous principal components and orientation of the quadrupolar coupling are found to be in excellent agreement with previous measurements. A new point dipole model for predicting the paramagnetic shift tensor is proposed yielding significantly better agreement than previously used models. In the new model, the dipoles are displaced from nuclei at positions associated with high electron density in the singly occupied molecular orbital predicted from ligand field theory.

Modifier cation effects on (29)Si nuclear shielding anisotropies in silicate glasses.

We have examined variations in the (29)Si nuclear shielding tensor parameters of SiO4 tetrahedra in a series of seven alkali and alkaline earth silicate glass compositions, Cs2O·4.81 SiO2, Rb2O·3.96 SiO2, Rb2O·2.25 SiO2, K2O·4.48 SiO2, Na2O·4.74 SiO2, BaO·2.64 SiO2, and SrO·2.36 SiO2, using natural abundance (29)Si two-dimensional magic-angle flipping (MAF) experiments. Our analyses of these 2D spectra reveal a linear dependence of the (29)Si nuclear shielding anisotropy of Q((3)) sites on the Si-non-bridging oxygen bond length, which in turn depends on the cation potential and coordination of modifier cations to the non-bridging oxygen. We also demonstrate how a combination of Cu(2+) as a paramagnetic dopant combined with echo train acquisition can reduce the total experiment time of (29)Si 2D NMR measurements by two orders of magnitude, enabling higher throughput 2D NMR studies of glass structure.

Sideband separation experiments in NMR with phase incremented echo train acquisition.

A general approach for enhancing sensitivity of nuclear magnetic resonance sideband separation experiments, such as Two-Dimensional One Pulse (TOP), Magic-Angle Turning (MAT), and Phase Adjust Spinning Sidebands (PASS) experiments, with phase incremented echo-train acquisition (PIETA) is described. This approach is applicable whenever strong inhomogeneous broadenings dominate the unmodulated frequency resonances, such as in non-crystalline solids or in samples with large residual frequency anisotropy. PIETA provides significant sensitivity enhancements while also eliminating spectral artifacts would normally be present with Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill acquisition. Additionally, an intuitive approach is presented for designing and processing echo train acquisition magnetic resonance experiments on rotating samples. Affine transformations are used to relate the two-dimensional signals acquired in TOP, MAT, and PASS experiments to a common coordinate system. Depending on sequence design and acquisition conditions two significant artifacts can arise from truncated acquisition time and discontinuous damping in the T2 decay. Here we show that the former artifact can always be eliminated through selection of a suitable affine transformation, and give the conditions in which the latter can be minimized or removed entirely.

Reduction of spin diffusion artifacts from 2D zfr-INADEQUATE MAS NMR spectra.

The primary shortcoming of the z-filtered refocused INADEQUATE MAS NMR pulse sequence is the possibility of artifacts introduced during the z-filter due to spin diffusion where by extra peaks in the single-quantum dimension (from other sites in the molecule) appear correlated with a given double-quantum frequency. This is a problem when the spinning speeds are too slow (less than 15 kHz) to sufficiently average the proton-proton homonuclear dipolar couplings. This would be especially important when working with large volume rotors that are difficult to spin fast enough to completely average the homonuclear couplings. In our experiments we used the frequency-switched Lee-Goldberg (FSLG) method of homonuclear decoupling during the z-filter to remove the artifact peaks. This method has the advantage of being quite easy to setup and implement on most modern NMR spectrometers.

Hydrogen motional disorder in crystalline iron group chloride dihydrates

The principal components and the relative orientation of the 2H paramagnetic shift and quadrupolar coupling tensors have been measured for the MCl2·2D2O family of compounds, M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu, using the two-dimensional shifting-d echo nuclear magnetic resonance experiment in order to determine (1) the degree of unpaired electron delocalization and (2) the number and location of crystallographically distinct hydrogen sites around oxygen and their fractional occupancies. Expressions for the molecular susceptibility of 3d ion systems, where the spin-orbit coupling is a weak perturbation onto the crystal field, are derived using the generalized Van Vleck equation and used to predict molecular susceptibilities. These predicted molecular susceptibilities are combined with various point dipole source configurations modeling unpaired electron delocalization to predict 2H paramagnetic shift tensors at potential deuterium sites. The instantaneous deuterium quadrupolar coupling and shift tensors are then combined with parameterized motional models, developed for trigonally (M = Mn, Fe, Co, and Cu) and pyramidally (M = Ni) coordinated D2O ligands, to obtain the best fit of the experimental 2D spectra. Dipole sources placed onto metal nuclei with a small degree of delocalization onto the chlorine ligands yield good agreement with the experiment for M = Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni, while good agreement for CuCl2·2D2O is obtained with additional delocalization onto the oxygen. Our analysis of the salts with trigonally coordinated water ligands (M = Mn, Fe, Co, and Cu) confirms the presence of bisector flipping and the conclusions from neutron scattering measurements that hydrogen bonding to chlorine on two adjacent chains leads to the water molecule in the [M(D2O)2Cl4] cluster being nearly coplanar with O-M-Cl involving the shortest metal-chlorine bonds of the cluster. In the case of NiCl2·2D2O, the experimental parameters were found to be consistent with a motional model where the D2O ligands are pyramidally coordinated to the metal and undergo bisector flipping while the water ligand additionally hops between two orientations related by a 120° rotation about the Ni-O bond axis. The position of the three crystallographically distinct hydrogen sites in the unit cell was determined along with fractional occupancies. This restricted water ligand motion is likely due to van der Waals interactions and is concerted with the motion of neighboring ligands.