Amazing Superconduction Levitation

Hi, this time we present you some amazing footage of the levitation of two sphere magnets over a YBCO superconductor. The gold platted NdFeB N52 sphere magnets are partly "pinned" to the superconductor surface and are held vertical by an unseen additional magnet. The superconductor is of course cooled down to -196°C. On his surface there builds up liquid oxygen. The liquid oxygen is paramagnetic and therefore attracted by the neodym magnets. Droplets of liquid oxgen are periodically attracted by the magnets and the droplets evaporate on the magnet surface. Simultaneously we can also see the build up of ice crystals on the cool surface of the lower magnet. At all, a crazy but interesting experiment. Please note that we possess the copyright on this footage. If you have interest in the use of our images please contact us.

Having fun with superconductors

Below you can watch three videos considering experiments with YBCO superconductors:

• The first one demonstrates the levitation of a bar YBCO superconductor on a magnet levitation track. The levitation track consists of an array of NdFeB magnets.
• The second video shows the levitation of a large ring magnet over two YBCO superconductors. The ring floats freely and can be set in rotation - the principle of a superconducting bearing.
• The third video is about coupled levitation. Two tiny NdFeB cube magnets float over a YBCO superconductor. They are "pinned". By moving one magnet one can also set the other magnet in motion. But due to the pinning they are hold in position.

 

Diamagnetically stabilized levitation over copper

Here we demonstrate you a new experiment: Diamagnetically stabilized levitation over copper. By using a strong NdFeB lifter magnet (not seen in this video) you can stabilize a tiny 1x1x1 mm NdFeB N52 cube magnet over the surface of a copper plate. The levitation is stable and needs no energy support. And it is not eddy current levitation !!!

Superhydrophobic Water

By coating little water droplets with superhydrophobic aerogel powder the water gets "superhydrophobic". You can roll these droplets over different kinds of surfaces and the droplets even don't get stuck onto each other. Watch below our video series considering this astonishing phenomenon:

Dancing Magnet

The video below shows a tiny 1x1x1mm N52 cube magnet which floats freely between two 5mm thick pyrolytic graphite plates. The strong big lifter magnet above which compensates mostly of the gravity force of the floating magnet is not shown in this video. When blowing the tiny magnet it begins to dance within the stability zone in a chaotic way.

Diamagnetic Bearing Demonstrator

In the video below you can watch a diamagnetic bearing demonstrator. A 10mm pyrolytic graphite disc floats and rotates freely above a permanent magnet array. The levitation gap is about 1mm. The permanent magnet array consists of three magnets with N52 grade. On the top is the silver ring magnet with a nested golden cylinder magnet. Beneath these two magnets sits a further golden cylinder magnet. Of course the load capacity of this diamagnetic bearing is very, very low. You can load it only with some milligrams. And also the radial stability has to be improved to realize higher rotational speeds. But such diamagnetic bearings have some potential for the application in micro bearings or generators.

Creepy slime gorges innocent magnet

Hi, these days we did a little experiment with the magnetic mass from our shop. It is some polymer with magnetic particles in it. We put a line of magnetic mass on a 12x12x12mm NdFeB Magnet and shoot some images over the two days. So watch the images below:

23.01.2011, 15:01 - Starting the experiment with the magnet and magnetic mass.

23.01.2011, 15:02 - The magnetic mass is attracted by one of the magnet poles

 

23.01.2011, 15:16 - The magnetic mass trys to reach the other magnet pole.

23.01.2011, 16:30 - The magnetic mass is creeping below the magnet and lifts it.

23.01.2011, 17:31 - The magnetic mass flows around the magnet.

23.01.2011, 19:05 - The magnetic mass pulls the magnet in direction of the bigger mass. Some of the magnetic mass sticks on the white surface.

24.01.2011, 6:28, the next day - The magnetic mass is pulling the magnet further.

 

 25.01.2011, 15:04, after two days - The magnetic mass is pulling the magnet further, but the movement is slowing down significantly. Here we stopped the experiment because we needed the camera and space for some other stuff.

Diamagnetically Stabilized Vertical Levitation

Today we show you a 10x10x10mm N52 neodym cube magnet which levitates and spins over a plate of pyrolytic graphite. This arrangement is called "Diamagnetically stabilized Levitation". The pyrolytic graphite is polished to near optic quality. By this the floating magnets mirror image can be seen on the pyrolytic graphite plate. Levitation height is about 2 mm. The big lifter magnet which is needed for levitation is not shown in these videos and images. After some time it seems that the magnet changes its direction of rotation but this is only an optical illusion.

 

Liquid oxygen attracted by levitating magnet spheres

In this video you can see two 8mm NdFeB N52 gold plated magnet spheres floating over a high temperature superconductor made of Yttrium-Barium-Copper-Oxide (YBCO). The superconductor was cooled down to -196°C with liquid nitrogen and is covered with ice and mist. To hold the magnet spheres absolutely upward an additional lifter magnet was used which is not visible in the images.
It can be observed that droplets of liquid oxygen, which is paramagnetic, are attracted by the magnet spheres and evaporate abruptly on the surface of the lower sphere. The liquid oxygen accumulated on the surface of the superconductor while experimenting and was not additionally added.
Furthermore you can see the mist vortexes which built up on the lower side of the magnet sphere. These vortexes consist mainly of water mist and evaporating nitrogen.
This experiment shows a complex combination of superconduction, paramagnetism, diamagnetism, magnetism, thermo-dynamics and fluid dynamics.

Magnet spheres floating over a superconductor

Hi, this time we want to present you very interesting images which we shot while experimenting with a high temperature superconductor and NdFeB magnet spheres. Below you can see a set of astonishing images. What was the experimental setup? We let float two 8mm NdFeB N52 gold plated magnet spheres over a high temperature superconductor made of Yttrium-Barium-Copper-Oxide (YBCO). The superconductor was cooled down to -196°C with liquid nitrogen and is covered with ice and mist. To hold the magnet spheres absolutely upward an additional lifter magnet was used which is not visible in the images.

We observed that a droplet of liquid oxygen, which is paramagnetic, was attracted by the magnet spheres and evaporates abruptly on the surface of the lower sphere. The liquid oxygen accumulated on the surface of the superconductor while experimenting and was not additionally added.

Furthermore we could see nice ice crystal build-ups on the surface of the lower and cooler magnet sphere.

Finally we could also shot nice images of the mist vortexes which built up on the lower side of the magnet sphere. These vortexes consist mainly of water mist and evaporating nitrogen.

This experiment shows a complex combination of superconduction, paramagnetism, diamagnetism, magnetism, thermo-dynamics and fluid dynamics.

We shot these pics with a macro lense because with the bare eye one could hardly see all these effects on the tiny magnet spheres.

If you have interest in image licensing or you need bigger image resolutions please contact us via the contact form at our shop.

Fig. 1: Paramagnetic oxygen is attracted by the floating magnet spheres.

Fig. 2: Water mist vortexes build up below the magnet spheres.

Fig. 3: Here we catched the vortexes in a nearly symmetric way.                 

Fig. 4: Catching the moment when the liquid oxygen evaporates on the magnet surface.

Fig. 5: Here we catched the moment when the upper magnet sphere looked like a disco sphere.

Floating and rotating magnet in a diamagnetically stabilized levitation configuration

In the video below you can see a N52 5x5x2mm NdFeB-magnet which floats freely in a horizontal diamagnetically stabilized levitation configuration with only one plate of pyrolytic graphite. The two big lifter magnets on the left and right are not visible. By blowing the magnet with a stream of air you can make it running with very low friction. There are mainly eddy currents and the air friction which brake the run-out. The video sequence wasn't cut for scientific reasons.

Multiple Diamagnetically Stabilized Levitation

Hi, today we want to publish something what we call multiple diamagnetically stabilized levitation. In the horizontal levitation configuration as shown below we have never seen it before. So we think that we are the first to publish this kind of diamagnetic levitation configuration. If you don't think so proove it. So what is it all about? We can now let levitate several magnets simultaneously in a horizontal diamagnetically stabilized levitation configuration. Therefore we have built a small diamagnetic levitation test setup. Two lifter magnets are fixed on aluminium bars and attract the small magnets. The levitation and stabilization is realised by one or two diamagnetic plates made of pyrolytic graphite which stand vertical between the lifter magnets. We started to let levitate two, four and than even eight magnets simultaneously. The floating magnets are all made from N52 grade to realize the highest levitation gaps. Watch the images below and the additional explanations below the images.

Fig. 1: Test setup for realizing multiple diamagnetically stabilized levitation.
Here some bar lifter magnets are shown. But for the levitation experiments
we used also some other big block-shaped lifter magnets.

Fig. 2: Four N52 5x5x2mm magnets are floating between plates of
pyrolytic graphite. Yes, there are four magnets floating, but one is
floating exactly behind the other.

Fig. 3: With this tilted camera angle view you can now see the
fourth floating magnet.

Fig. 4: Double levitation with stack of magnets is of course also
possible.

Fig. 5: Multiple Diamagnetically Stabilized Levitation is also possible with only one
big pyrolytic graphite plate (90x90x5 mm) from our shop at www.innomats.com.
The tiny magnets search always there energetic minimum. In this way they order
themselves in a special pattern.

Fig. 6: And yes, the magnets do float, as you can see here again. Eight
tiny floaters above the pyrolytic graphite surface and only one plate.

Superhydrophobic Aerogel Mat in Water

The image and video below show the behaviour of a piece of  our superhydrophobic aerogel mat (from www.innomats.com) in water.  The water is completely repelled from the aerogel mat surface. A thin layer of air forms between the aerogel mat and the water which makes the aerogel mat shinning silvery. The water repelling effect corresponds to the Lotus effect which you may know from the leaves of the Lotus plant.

 

How to make your finger superhydrophobic !

This time we show you what happens when you stick a superhydrophobic finger in ordinary water. Just rub your finger in superhydrophobic aerogel powder. The finger gets superhydrophobic on its surface by this. And now, when sticking the finger into water it shines silvery. This comes due to a thin air layer between the finger and the water. From the two images below you can clearly see the difference between a non-superhydrophobic finger and a superhydrophobic finger. The third image shows a colored water droplet sitting on the finger.Watch also the video for more action.

Fig 1: Non-Superhydrophobic finger.

Fig 2: Superhydrophobic finger in water.

Fig 3: A colored water droplet forms a sphere on a superhydrophobic finger.

 

 

 

 

Making paper superhydrophobic

Hi, today we want to shortly explain how you can use our aerogel (www.innomats.com) to make paper superhydrophobic. The aerogel granules you can buy at our shop are superhydrophobic. Superhydrophobic means that no water droplet can stick at such a materials. You may know this from the Lotus plant. All water droplets are completely repelled from its leaves. Therefore also the name "Lotus effect" for this phenomenon. You can produce your own lotus leaf with a sheet of paper and some pulverized aerogel granules. Just pulverize the aeorogel granules with the help of a blender or mortar. Also aerogel is not poison you should always wear a dust mask and gloves to protect yourself from the fine dust. Then take a cloth and some aerogel powder and rub it deeply into the sheet of paper. With your bare fingers you will feel that that aerogel powder and aerogel granules feels always sticky. When the whole paper surface is completely covered shake the paper to remove the aerogel powder which has not been rubbed into the paper. Perhaps you can also use a vacuum cleaner to gently remove all free aerogel dust from the surface. Now when you have cleaned up the mess the funny part begins. Take a syringe or a pipette to wet the paper surface with some colored water. And surprise, surprise, no water droplet is sticking anymore at the paper. Indeed the droplets bounce from the surface and run away fastly. The contact angles of the water droplets exceed now 150°. Furthermore the roll-off angle gets less than 10°. With some patience and a good macro lense you can make fantastic images. See below some cool images and further explanations. If you have interest to use these images and you need higher quality resolutions please ask us. We can offer you some attractive licencing options. Contact form is at www.innomats.com.
Unfortunately the superhydrophobic effect holds only as long as a sufficient amount of aerogel is sticking on/in the paper. Using, wetting and rubbing the paper let disapear the effect fastly. And you can't also not rub in the aerogel into hard and smooth materials like metal, plastics or glas. But perhaps you can find a solution to make the aerogel powder sticking onto these surfaces and make it harder for every day uses.

Fig 1: Superhydrophobic aerogel powder and granules in comparison.

Fig 2: A colored water droplet on superhydrophobic paper.
Look at the big contact angle.

Fig 3: Two colored water droplets on a sheet of superhydrophobic paper.
In the background is a match for size comparison.

Fig 4: With some patience you can get water droplets floating on water on
a very thin film made of aerogel powder.

Fig 5: Some of the aerogel powder sticks at the droplet surface and therefore
droplets repell each other, too.

Fig 6: No, not some monster bacterias but colored water droplets on
superhydrophobic paper.

Fig. 7: And here the dynamic process of droplet bouncing on the
superhydrophobic surface.

Water droplets on Superhydrobic Paper

Our aerogel granules can be used to make aerogel powder. With this aerogel powder you can rub a paper surface. Due to the fact that this kind of aerogel is superhydrophobic the paper surface also gets superhydrophobic itself. All water is completely repelled from such superhydrophobic surfaces. Mother nature demonstrates us this effect e.g. at the leaves of the Lotus plant. But watch yourself what happens with water droplets on this special kind of paper:

Superhydrobic Aerogel Granules

Some people might already know that aerogel is a material with fantastic heat isolation properties. It is therefore used more and more for the isolation of buildings to reduce the heat loss in the heating time and save energy. But what is not widely known that some kinds of aerogels are also superhydrophobic. Superhydrobic means that all water is completely repelled from the materials surface. You might know that from the Lotus plant. No water droplet can stick on its leaves. With our aerogel granules you can also test the Lotus effect for yourself. As you can see in the two images below the colored water sits on the aerogel granules in form of droplets.

Fig 1: Colored water droplets on superhydrophobic aerogel granules.

Fig 2: Pink water droplets on superhydrophobic aerogel granules.

Spinning Magnet over High Temperature Superconductor

This short video shows a spinning magnet over one of our high temperature superconductors. The Yttrium-Barium-Copper-Oxide superconductor is cooled down to -196°C with the help of liquid nitrogen. Due to the Meißner-Ochsenfeld effect the magnet levitates above the superconductor and can be set in rotation. The magnet is made from Neodym-Iron-Boron and has the grade N50.

Different Diamagnetic Levitation Configurations Explained

Figure 1: Diamagnetic Levitation over a 3x3 magnet array.
(12mm NdFeB cube magnets, N48, gold plated)
The white arrows indicate the magnet magnetization pattern.

Today we want to give you a short overview considering some well known levitation configurations with diamagnets and permanent magnets. In general we can distingiush between “diamagnetic levitation” and “diamagnetically stabilized levitation”. Be aware that in literature also the words “suspension” and “floating” are used instead of “levitation”.
The most common “diamagnetic levitation” configuration is shown in figure 1. Here a flat sheet of pyrolytic graphite floats over an array of nine strong neodym magnets (NdFeB). The magnetization pattern of the magnets is indicated by the white arrows. Due to this choice of magnetization patter we can achieve a high magnetic field and also a high magnetic field gradient on the surface of the magnets. For achieving diamagnetic levitation both are needed simultaneously. This is also obviously from the formula

which describes the force on a diamagnetic body at point z in z-direction. μ0 is the vacuum permeability, χ is the material susceptibility, V is the volume of the diamagnetic body and B is the flux density at point z. For levitation Fz must balance the gravity force of the diamagnetic body which is Fg=ρVg where g is the gravitational acceleration and ρ the material density. Balancing Fz with Fg gives the equilibrium condition:

Using the material parameters of pyrolytic graphite we can calculate that the product of the magnetic flux density and its derivation must be bigger than about 60 T²/m to achieve levitation. For water we would need at least 1400 T²/m. For stable levitation a certain repelling force only is not sufficient. The diamagnetic body must also be trapped in one or more magnetic potential wells. This is also realized by the 3x3 magnet array configuration. Here local minima of the magnetic potential are located at the intersection points of th magnets (see figure 2).

Figure 2: Calculated Magnetic Potential (B²) @ 0.75 mm above the magnets surface

Unfortunately the levitation force is very low (in the range of mN) in such a diamagnetic levitation configuration. But nevertheless diamagnetic levitation has some application potential in the micro and nano-world: Lab on Chip, micro acceleration sensors or micro low friction bearings.

Figure 3: Vertical diamagnetically stabilized levitation

Figure 4: Horizontal diamagnetically stabilized levitation

And what does now “diamagnetically stabilized levitation” means? In these configurations a magnet and not the diamagnet is floating. For example in a vertical levitation configuration the magnet floats between two diamagnetic plates e.g. pyrolytic graphit or bismuth. Most of the gravity weight of the floating  magnet is compensated by an attracting lifter magnet arranged above. The stabilization is realized by the diamagnetic forces (see figure 3). With two plates the levitation gaps g are maximal. Levitation does also work with only one plate. In the horizontal levitation configuration two lifter magnets must be used bo compensate the gravity weigth fo the floating magnet. Figure 4 shows this configuration. In this case it is also possible to use only one diamagnetic plate. With todays neodym magnets and by using pyrolytic graphite plates levitation gaps of 2-3 mm can be realized depending whether you use one or two plates.
Many variants of the described levitation configurations are known including superconductors. But this may be a topic of  upcoming articles.

Polishing Pyrolytic Graphite and Single Plate Horizontal Levitation

What is not very known is the fact that pyrolytic graphite can be polished to near optic quality. In the image below you can see a magnet floating horizontally besides a polished PG plate. The two big lifter magnets on the left and right are not visible. The mirror image of the floating magnet can clearly be seen. Polishing the PG plate is easy. Just use a clean cloth and some polishing paste as one use e.g. for polishing acrylic glass.