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

Abstract 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 T 2 – T 2 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 T 2 – T 2 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.