The
water phases in a MgSO4·7H2O crystal
during heating were studied with the help of NMR. The thermogravimetric
analysis (TGA) data showed that the heating rate has a strong effect
on the dehydration process. NMR experiments showed that pore water,
i.e., an aqueous solution of MgSO4, was produced during
dehydration. Additional NMR measurements indicate a water diffusion
coefficient of this pore water that is 10 times lower than that of
bulk water. We showed on the basis of a model that pore water is produced
as the vapor release is not sufficient at crossing a phase transition
temperature.
A set-up especially designed for semi-simultaneous measurements of 1H, 23Na and 35Cl in ordinary cementitious materials using nuclear magnetic resonance was built. This setup makes use of the main field of a whole body magnetic resonance imaging system (Philips Intera), which has allowed us to combine two measurement setups into one, i.e., a 23Na/35Cl and a 1H insert. This 1.5 T field was chosen as a compromise between the signal-to-noise ratio of the spin-echo signal, which increases at higher frequencies, and the line broadening due to the presence of magnetic impurities of these materials, which leads to a decrease of the resolution at higher magnetic fields. The preliminary experiments show that this setup can be used to the study the interaction of different types of ions with cementitious materials. One-dimensional profiles of the moisture and dissolved ions can be measured with a spatial resolution of about 2 mm for 1H, 6 mm for 23Na and 9 mm for 35Cl.
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