¹⁷ o solid-state nmr studies of zro ₂ nanoparticles

¹⁷ O solid-state NMR spectroscopy was applied to study the structure of monoclinic and tetragonal zirconia nanoparticles with the help of density functional theory calculations for spectral assignments. Although high-temperature ¹⁷ O enrichment allows detection of oxygen ions in the "bulk" part of nanoparticles, selective NMR observation of surface oxygen species can be realized using ¹⁷ O-labeled water to enrich surface oxygen sites at a relatively low temperature. The high-frequency ¹⁷ O NMR resonances arising from low-coordinated oxygen ions on the surface of monoclinic and tetragonal zirconia nanoparticles were observed for the first time. The results are the basis for further understanding of structure-properties relations of zirconia nanomaterials.