Observation of molecular migration in porous media using 2D exchange spectroscopy in the inhomogeneous magnetic field.

We present a new method for observing fluid diffusion in a porous medium. The method employs 2D exchange spectroscopy for molecules diffusing in the presence of local magnetic field inhomogeneities, in our case distilled water in various sized glass bead packs. Our experiment involves an acquisition and evolution time domain with the two Fourier domains corresponding to the spectral distribution of local fields. We show that exchange in the internal magnetic field can be seen in a 2D spectrum with a characteristic time on the order of that required to diffuse 0.15 sphere diameters with similar behavior found for computer simulations. The method is potentially useful for studying the internal migrations in more complicated systems such as sandstones or other porous media.