AbstractTo understand amorphous and structurally disordered materials requires the application of a wide-range of advanced physical probe techniques and herein a combined methodology is outlined. The relatively short-range structural sensitivity of solid state NMR means that it is a core probe technique for characterizing such materials. The aspects of the solid state NMR contribution are emphasized here with examples given from a number of systems, with especial emphasis on the information available from 17O NMR in oxygen-containing materials. 17O NMR data for crystallization of pure sol-gel prepared oxides is compared, with new data presented from In2O3 and Sc2O3. Sol-gel formed oxide mixtures containing silica have been widely studied, but again the role and effect of the other added oxide varies widely. In a ternary ZrO2-TiO2-SiO2 silicate sol-gel the level of Q4 formation is dependent not only on the composition, as expected, but also the nature of the second added oxide. Sol-gel formed phosphates have been much less widely studied than silicates and some 31P NMR data from xerogel, sonogel and melt-quench glasses of the same composition are compared. The effect of small amounts of added antibacterial copper on phosphate glass networks is also explored.
On the Combined Analysis of 2H and 15N/1H Solid-State NMR Data for Determination of Transmembrane Peptide Orientation and Dynamics