Multinuclear NMR study of the structure and micro-dynamics of counterions and water molecules within clay colloids

Multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, relaxation and diffusion measurements were used recently to extract dynamical information on the long-time mobility of the water molecules and the neutralizing counterions condensed within the electrostatic well in the vicinity of the basal surface of clay particles. Multi-scale numerical modeling was used to interpret the NMR relaxation measurements and illustrate the interdependency between the solvent and ionic mobility and the organization of the anisotropic clay particles within the colloidal dispersions.