title: A containerless levitation setup for liquid processing in a superconducting magnet.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Special Environmental Biophysics, Faculty of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072 Shaanxi, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hui-Meng
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Da-Chuan
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Hai-Sheng
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Li-Qiang
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.forename: Chen-Yan
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Qin-Qin
authors.initials: QQ
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Yun-Zhu
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Wei-Hong
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.forename: Nobuko I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Wakayama
mesh_terms: D003460:Crystallization; D055590:Electromagnetic Phenomena; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000295:instrumentation*; D009113:Muramidase / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D014893:Weightlessness
chemical_list: D014867:Water; D009113:Muramidase