NMR

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)

NMR contains a number of sub-disciplines including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which is traditionally used in hospitals and medical facilities. But the highly innovative UWS team is encouraging the use of NMR and very high resolution MRI (also known as NMR microscopy) by industry, government agencies and research organisations in such diverse fields as entomology, neuroscience, rheology, molecular association, materials, nanotechnology, plant science, well-logging, electrochemistry and surfactants.

The University’s major NMR facility can be used to study: ligand binding and transmembrane transport; drug binding; association and association kinetics of proteins, surfactants and small molecules; diffusion in porous systems ranging from sandstone to polymers to brain tissue; plants, water flow and freezing in plants; supercooled liquids and biological tissues. Imaging and diffusion are complementary techniques: used together they offer novel perspectives. The group at UWS is renowned for its work on NMR diffusion studies.

Instruments

The NMR facility at UWS comprises three co-located spectrometers:

• A wide-bore 500 MHz, 11.7 tesla spectrometer – for high resolution imaging, very high gradient diffusion measurements and high resolution magic angle spinning
• A 400 MHz, 9.4 tesla spectrometer – for general high resolution studies and low gradient diffusion measurements
• A 300 MHz, 7 tesla spectrometer – for general high resolution studies