Advanced NMR-based techniques for pore structure analysis of coal. Final project report

During the 3 year term of the project, new methods have been developed for characterizing the pore structure of porous materials such as coals, carbons, and amorphous silica gels. In general, these techniques revolve around; (1) combining multiple techniques such as small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) and adsorption of contrast-matched adsorbates or {sup 129}Xe NMR and thermoporometry (the change in freezing point with pore size), (2) combining adsorption isotherms over several pressure ranges to obtain a more complete description of pore filling, or (3) applying NMR ({sup 129}Xe, {sup 14}N{sub 2}, {sup 15}N{sub 2}) techniques with well-defined porous solids with pores in the large micropore size range (>1 nm)