Secular and semi-nonsecular models of cross-polarization kinetics for remote spins: an application for nano-structured calcium hydroxyapatite

Abstract

The 1H → 31P cross-polarization (CP) kinetics in the nanostructured calcium hydroxyapatite (nanoCaHA) was measured under moderate (5 kHz) magic-angle spinning (MAS) rate. This material was chosen as it contains the distanced 1H–31P spin pairs and the interactions between them are characterized by a relatively low dipolar coupling (b) that could be comparable with the spin-diffusion rates (R). Therefore, the physical legitimacy to use the secular solution of the quantum Liouville–von Neumann equation is doubtful. The semi-nonsecular model of spin dynamics was applied, and the results were compared with those obtained by the secular approach. The comparable results obtained by both models show that the secular model is applicable, with certain reservation, also in the case of |b| ≈ R. The extremely high anisotropy of spin diffusion in the nano-CaHA was deduced. This can be a matter of the applied approach, as the interactions of the 31P spins with the proton bath were neglected in both models. The high anisotropy could also be caused by the physical reasons that stem from the structural and proton diffusion features of CaHA. This material belongs to low-dimensional proton conductors possessing a large motional freedom for protons along OH– chains.