¹⁴N spin relaxation study in the hexagonal phase of a lyotropic liquid crystal

Abstract

¹⁴N quadrupolar splitting and spin-lattice relaxation times T _IZ and T _IQ were measured in the hexagonal phase of a binary mixture of dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride and water. The derived spectral densities of motion at seven temperatures together with their corresponding quadrupolar splittings were analysed based on a simple model of ‘classical’ aggregates. Both fast local motion and slower surface self-diffusion about the cylindrical aggregate axis were required to account for the ¹⁴N spin relaxation in this phase. The azimuthal correlation time was found to be tens of nanoseconds.