New ways of probing surface nuclear relaxation and microdynamics of water and oil in porous media

The microdynamics of water and oil in macroporous media with SiO2 or CaCO3 surfaces has been probed at various temperatures by magnetic field-cycling measurements of spin-lattice relaxation rates. These measurements and an or iginal theory of surface diffusion allow us to obtain surface dynamical par ameters such as surface correlation times, residence times and diffusion co efficients. A coefficient of affinity of the liquids for the pore surface i s deduced. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.