Effects of surface chemistry on the porous structure of coal. Quarterly technical progress report, July 1996--September 1996

The primary objective of this project is to use {sup 129}Xe NMR to characterize the microporous structure of coals. We will use direct information on pore size, as well as indirect information from adsorption rates and evidence for intra/extraparticle diffusion, to characterize the connectivity of the micropore network. A second objective is to use {sup 129}Xe NMR to describe the effect of controlled opening of the micropores in a microporous carbon by oxygen chemi-sorption/desorption. Our experimental focus in this quarter has been the low power presaturation of the NMR signal of {sup 129}Xe adsorbed in coal. Preliminary work on this experiment was reported in the last quarter. Low power presaturation of {sup 129}Xe adsorbed in two coals produces a hole-burning effect in the adsorbed xenon NMR signals, indicating that these signals are broad due to overlap of a series of chemical shifts. Saturation transfer to the entire adsorbed xenon signal and to the extraparticle gas is observed with increasing presaturation time. Differences in timing of saturation transfer to the external gas have implications for the nature of the connectivity of the pore structures in coal