Konstantin Ivanov Intercontinental Magnetic Resonance Seminar

Konstantin Ivanov intercontinental magnetic resonance seminar series started on April 8, 2020. It organises seminars on a range of topics in magnetic resonance covering NMR, EPR, hyperpolarisation, colour centres and optical pumping, and ZULF NMR. The emphasis of the talks are on both methods and applications and a perspective on the future of the field. The speakers include a wide range of scientists ranging from PhD students to post-doctoral fellows, to senior scientists.

Upcoming Talks:

• September 11, 2026, Ayan Maiti, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, " Extending polarization across interfaces: A molecular ruler for DNP-NMR", Efficient characterization tools are crucial for advancing electrode materials in energy storage and conversion systems. While solid-state NMR spectroscopy provides valuable insights into bulk solids, understanding buried interfaces between solid phases remains challenging. Traditional radical-based exogenous Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) offers surface-level insights but is limited in the case of reactive interfaces or where spin diffusion is not efficient. Metal-ion DNP (MIDNP), where paramagnetic metal ions act as an endogenous polarization source, is an excellent alternative as it enables polarization transfer across interfaces, revealing the composition and structure of buried interfaces. However, further research is needed to make this approach more quantitative, to determine the extent of polarization transfer from the dopants, and to establish how this is affected by interface composition and nuclear magnetic properties. In this study, we developed a model system to investigate the length scale of polarization transfer, focusing on LixSiyOz-coated Fe(III)-doped TiO2 nanospheres. We optimized dopant concentration, which enabled the detection of a 2 nm thick coating. By analyzing polarization transfer in coatings of varying thicknesses (2–15 nm) and correlating with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, we estimated the polarized fraction of the coating layer. We extended our findings with polarization transfer models investigating the effect of intrinsic relaxation (T1), paramgnetic relaxation enahcenment (PRE), and spin diffusion. These discoveries provide a powerful structural tool for investigating buried interfaces, with significant applications in battery and catalytic studies. Our ongoing work aims to expand this framework to other relevant nuclei and to exogenous, radical-based DNP systems..

• September 18, 2026, Laureano Javier Ensuncho Hernández, TU Darmstadt, Germany

• September 25, 2026, Daniel Klose, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

• October 2, 2026, Manjunath Reddy, University of Lille, France

• October 9, 2026, Danil Markelov, ENS Paris, France

• October 16, 2026, Dmitrii Aleshin, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

• October 23, 2026, Morgane Callon, CNRS/Univ. of Lyon, France

• October 30, 2026, Henrik Bradtmüller, Univ. of São  Paulo, Brazil

• November 6, 2026, Matthias Ernst, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

• November 13, 2026, Vipin Agarwal, TIFR Hyderabad, India

• November 20, 2026, TBA

• November 27, 2026, David Bryce, Univ. of Ottawa, Canada