Periodic Reporting for period 3 - UFLNMR (Ultrafast Laplace NMR)
Período documentado: 2021-04-01 hasta 2022-09-30
This ERC project focuses on the development of new class of NMR experiments, called ultrafast Laplace NMR (UF-LNMR). The method is based on the spatial coding of multidimensional information, making it possible to read it with one measurement. The method shortens the experiment time by one to three orders of magnitude as compared to the conventional method, offering unprecedented opportunity to study fast processes in real time. Furthermore, it enables boosting the sensitivity by several orders of magnitude by using nuclear spin hyperpolarization, which allows investigation of low-concentration samples.
The method offers groundbreaking possibilities for chemical, biochemical, geological, archaeological, and medical analysis. It allows, for example, the study of the dynamics of cancer cell metabolism in real time. The method can also reveal completely new information on the structure and characteristics of ionic liquids, gels, polymers, catalysts, and proteins, and it can be utilized in the development of biosensors.
The method is also applicable to low-field NMR sensors which are much less expensive than high field devices, and are easy to move. Their geometry also allows the study of samples of all sizes. UF-LNMR combined with the use of hyperpolarized substances increases the sensitivity and resolution of low-field devices to previously unseen levels. This means significant possibilities for low-cost mobile chemical and medical analysis.
The progress of the project has been very good. Since the start of the action, we have published altogether 35 scientific articles in international peer reviewed journals. Four of the articles are related to WP 1; we have introduced two novel UF-LNMR method for observing molecular exchange via relaxation and diffusion contrasts; one article focuses on optimizing the sampling schemes of the spatially encoded indirect dimension in UF-LNMR and one on improving Laplace inversion algorithm used for processing experimental data. There are 22 articles belonging to WP 2 and they concentrate on novel applications of UF-LNMR and developing hyperpolarization methods for boosting the sensitivity of the experiments. The applications include metabolites of cancer cells, exosomes, which are promising novel biomarkers for various diseases, novel selective adsorbents of noble gases, various biomaterials produced according to principles of circular economy for replacing oil-based materials, sustainable cements, shales, wood and lignin. Five of the articles is related to WP 3 and they introduce novel hyperpolarized UF-LNMR methods for low-field, mobile, single-sided NMR instruments as well as their applications in the investigation of curing process, reaction mechanisms and pore structure of metakaolin-based geopolymers and ancient wood samples. Four of the articles are review articles. Furthermore, one popular article was published.