Spin-probe ESR study on the dynamics of liquid molecules in the MCM-41 nanochannel: temperature dependence on 2-propanol and water.

A spin-probe ESR study has been made on the dynamics of 2-propanol and water molecules in the nanochannel of MCM-41 at various temperatures. In the former system, 2-propanol is separated into two phases: one with molecules immobilized in the ESR time scale and the other with mobile ones, even at temperatures more than 40 degrees higher than the bulk melting point. In the case of water, on the other hand, only the "immobilized" water was detected at a temperature as high as 313 K. At higher temperature, spin-probe molecule undergoes anisotropic rotational diffusion to reduce resistance from the solvent molecules in the nanochannel. These results are explained in relation to the intermolecular network intensified in the nanochannel. Static as well as dynamic structures of these solutions have been discussed.