A containerless levitation setup for liquid processing in a superconducting magnet.
Containerless processing of materials is considered beneficial for obtaining high quality products due to the elimination of the detrimental effects coming from the contact with container walls. Many containerless processing methods are realized by levitation techniques. This paper describes a containerless levitation setup that utilized the magnetization force generated in a gradient magnetic field. It comprises a levitation unit, a temperature control unit, and a real-time observation unit. Known volume of liquid diamagnetic samples can be levitated in the levitation chamber, the temperature of which is controlled using the temperature control unit. The evolution of the levitated sample is observed in real time using the observation unit. With this setup, containerless processing of liquid such as crystal growth from solution can be realized in a well-controlled manner. Since the levitation is achieved using a superconducting magnet, experiments requiring long duration time such as protein crystallization and simulation of space environment for living system can be easily succeeded.
Lu
Hui-Meng
HM
Institute of Special Environmental Biophysics, Faculty of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072 Shaanxi, People's Republic of China.
Yin
Da-Chuan
DC
Li
Hai-Sheng
HS
Geng
Li-Qiang
LQ
Zhang
Chen-Yan
CY
Lu
Qin-Qin
QQ
Guo
Yun-Zhu
YZ
Guo
Wei-Hong
WH
Shang
Peng
P
Wakayama
Nobuko I
NI
D003460:Crystallization; D055590:Electromagnetic Phenomena; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000295:instrumentation*; D009113:Muramidase / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D014893:Weightlessness
D014867:Water; D009113:Muramidase