Monitoring water transport between pores and voids in aerated gypsum using two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance exchange measurements

We investigate the connectivity between aeration voids (radius 200-300 µm) and pores (radius 20 µm) in aerated gypsum plaster using two-dimensional (2D) nuclear magnetic resonance T2-T2 relaxation time exchange experiments. These measurements provide an estimate of diffusive exchange rates for water molecules moving between environments differentiated by relaxation time. Aerated gypsum is a lightweight material manufactured by the inclusion of voids to reduce the bulk density. Such materials exhibit a multi-modal distribution of pore and void sizes and are associated with novel water imbibition processes. Here, we use T2-T2 exchange experiments to characterize the extent of fluid communication between the voids and pores to better understand the structure-transport relationships in these systems. In turn, this will aid the design of gypsum plasters with improved physical and mechanical properties. Utilizing an analytical model based on diffusion-driven exchange, we extract exchange times and hence diffusive length-scales, which are equivalent to the pore diameter. Overall, we conclude that the voids and pores are well connected. This confirms our previous hypothesis that water uptake occurs via capillary-driven imbibition through a continuum of voids and pores in aerated gypsum. (paper)