Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Platform for Molecular Water Research

In spring 2019, the international “Centre for Molecular Water Science” was launched at DESY
(Hamburg). CMWS is an international institute targeting molecular understanding of water.
Structure and dynamics of the water hydrogen-bonding network are essential in natural and
applied sciences (chemistry, physics, biology, materials science, energy, geoscience, biomedical as
well as climate science). CMWS builds upon a network of infrastructure and research hubs,
access to complementary techniques, data handling facilities and scientific expertise focused
towards water research. NMRCORE is a convergent research node operating 3 medium to high
field research NMR spectrometers, optimized to investigate different states of water upon
confinement in nanoscopic cavities. This IRI proposal aims to allow us to operate as a research
infrastructure hub of CMWS. Within the local research program, we envisage the design of a
dedicated NMR platform suited for in situ access to all facets of structure, dynamics and interface
behavior of water confined in porous hosts. In situ multidiagnostic NMR techniques will be
developed and especially an NMR-dielectric coupled cell is particularly innovative.