With support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) three German universities are to obtain innovative dynamic nuclear polarization-nuclear magnetic resonance (DNP-NMR) equipment for use in materials science and the life sciences. As part of an ongoing major instrumentation initiative, a sum of almost €5 million is available to provide this technology at the Universities of Darmstadt, Düsseldorf, and Frankfurt.

The key feature of DNP-NMR technology is the combination of solid-state NMR spectroscopy with intensive high-frequency irradiation of the samples during the measurement. This technique increases the sensitivity of the NMR measurement by approximately two orders of magnitude and so allows completely new categories of samples to be investigated, according to the DFG. In contrast to other approaches to more sensitive NMR measurements, the new method now being funded enables continuous DNP amplification for the first time, and thereby affords wider application in a range of different scientific fields, said the DFG. This means that the DNP-NMR technique may facilitate a better understanding of the interactions taking place on the molecular level.

In materials science, for example, this instrumentation can be used for studying composite materials, glasses, or inhomogeneous polymers.

The equipment to be funded by the DFG is intended to contribute to exploiting and evaluating the potential of the DNP-NMR technology. At all funded sites, measurement time will be available for external users, for which they will be expected to pay a share of the running costs.