In situ reaction monitoring in heterogeneous catalysts by a benchtop NMR spectrometer

Understanding the reactivity and mass transport properties of porous heterogenous catalysts is important for the development of new materials. Whereas MRI has previously been used to correlate chemical kinetics and hydrodynamics under operando conditions, this paper demonstrates that a modem benchtop NMR spectrometer is a suitable alternative to obtain diverse reaction information in porous heterogeneous catalyst materials on a smaller scale. Besides information about the chemical conversion within the pores, it can also be used to study changes of surface interaction by T-1/T-2 NMR relaxometry techniques and changes in mass transport by PFG NMR from a single chemical reaction.