Some recent publications Magnetic fields do not affect chemical systems through thermodynamic and equilibrium processes, but couple into reactions through mass transport and kinetics.
Magnetic fields can open new reaction pathways to alter rates and product distributions.
Our studies of magnetic field effects on chemical kinetics run from the fundamentals of theory and modeling through the experimental demonstration and evaluation of effects in composite materials to the implementation of new found understanding in important technologies such as fuel cells. The field couples the radical electron spin and the singlet nuclear spin. While magnetic effects on reactions between radicals have been known for about thirty years, we have only recently demonstrated effects on radical singlet . Much of our earlier work focused on the relationship between microstructure and properties in composite materials. Composites are formed of an ion exchange polymer, such as Nafion, and a second component that is inert and microstructured.