Our research focuses on the development of new techniques in multinuclear Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy of solids, through a combination of experiment, theory and computation. Of particular interest is the study of nuclei which possess an electric quadrupole moment, such as ²³Na, ²⁷Al and ¹⁷O, which account for over 75% of all NMR-accessible nuclides. Although of interest in a wide variety of areas solid-state NMR of these species is complicated by large spectral broadening. Much of our research is focussed on improving resolution and sensitivity to enable us to extract information on structure, bonding and dynamics. We then apply our methods to problems in materials science, geochemistry and chemistry, including water storage in high-pressure minerals in the inner Earth, new ceramic materials for the storage of radioactive waste and host-guest interactions in microporous framework materials.

Experimental and calculated ¹⁷O NMR spectra of wadsleyite (β-Mg₂SiO₄), a high-pressure mineral found in the deep Earth

SELECTED RECENT PUBLICATIONS

1. High-Resolution ¹⁷O MAS NMR Spectrosocopy of Wadsleyite (?-Mg₂SiO₄). S.E. Ashbrook, A.J.Berry, W.O. Hibberson, S. Steuernagel, S. Wimperis, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 11824-11825.
2. High-Resolution NMR of Quadrupolar Nuclei in Solids: The Satellite-Transition Magic Angle Spinning (STMAS) Experiment. S.E. Ashbrook, S. Wimperis, Prog. NMR Spectrosc. 2004, 45, 53-108.
3. ⁸⁹Y Magic-Angle Spinning NMR of Y₂Ti_2–xSn_xO₇ Pyrochlores, S.E. Ashbrook, K.R. Whittle, G.R. Lumpkin and I. Farnan, J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 10358-10364.
4. Dynamics on the Microsecond Timescle in Microporous Aluminophosphate AlPO-14 as evidenced by ²⁷Al MQMAS and STMAS NMR Spectroscopy. S. Antonijevic, S.E. Ashbrook, S. Biedasek, R.I. Walton, S. Wimperis and H. Yang, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 8054-8062.
5. ²³Na Multiple-Quantum MAS NMR of the Perovskites NaNbO₃ and NaTaO₃. S.E. Ashbrook, L. Le Polles, R. Gautier, C.J. Pickard and R.I. Walton, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2006, 8, 3423-3431.