Chemically Modified Silica Materials as Model Systems for the Characterization of Water-Surface Interactions

A series of novel functionalized mesoporous silica-based materials with well-defined pore diameters, surface functionalization and surface morphology is synthesized by co-condensation or grafting techniques and characterized by solid-state NMR spectroscopy, DNP enhanced solid state-NMR and thermodynamic techniques. These materials are employed as host-systems for small-guest molecules like water, small alcohols, carbonic acids, small aromatic molecules, binary mixtures and others. The phase-behavior of these confined guests is studied by combinations of one dimensional solid-state NMR techniques (¹HMAS, ²H-line shape analysis, ¹³C CPMAS) and two-dimensional correlation experiments like ¹H-²⁹Si- solid-state HETCOR.