Customized and high-performing acoustic levitators for contact-free experiments
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2024

Acoustic levitators are becoming an increasingly common research instrumentation for contact-free, lab-in-a-droplet studies. Recently, levitators that employ multiple, small, ultrasonic transducers have gained popularity, given their low price, temperature and spatial stability, low voltage, and accessibility. Yet, the current state-of-the-art device, TinyLev, presents limitations for certain applications in terms of stability, strength, and compactness. Herein, we developed three new levitators and evaluated the effect of the construction parameters (e.g., distance of opposing arrays, number and arrangement of transducers, etc.) on their performance. Compared to TinyLev, the best performing levitator from this work had half the number of transducers while presenting 1.7 and 3.5 times higher levitation capacity along the horizontal and vertical configurations, respectively, while the horizontal and vertical stability of a levitated object was improved 4.7 and 2.0 times, respectively. Additionally, we present a direct means to evaluate the acoustic radiation net force acting on a deformable object for uniaxial levitators, without the use of a microphone or a schlieren deflectometer for this type of levitators. The theoretical and experimental observations provide insights for adapting the acoustic levitator design for specific applications. Finally, we developed an open-source software which allows the evaluation of the acoustic pressure field generated by customized designs and provides the necessary files for 3D printing the scaffold of the levitator. This study aims to increase accessibility and promote further developments in contact-free experiments.

acoustic levitation

multiple-transducers

customized design

contact-free

Författare

Smaragda Maria Argyri

Chalmers, Kemi och kemiteknik, Tillämpad kemi

Carl Andersson

Chalmers, Arkitektur och samhällsbyggnadsteknik, Teknisk akustik

Nicolas Paillet

Chalmers, Kemi och kemiteknik, Tillämpad kemi

Lars Evenäs

Chalmers, Kemi och kemiteknik, Tillämpad kemi

Jens Ahrens

Chalmers, Arkitektur och samhällsbyggnadsteknik, Teknisk akustik

Asier Marzo

Universidad de Navarra

Víktor Contreras

Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca 62210, Mexico

Romain Bordes

Chalmers, Kemi och kemiteknik, Tillämpad kemi

Journal of Science: Advanced Materials and Devices

24682284 (ISSN) 24682179 (eISSN)

Vol. 9 3 100720

NMR-Lev: NMR-spektroskopi för leviterande material

Stiftelsen för Strategisk forskning (SSF) (ITM17-0436), 2019-01-01 -- 2021-12-31.

Vetenskapsrådet (VR) (2018-04196), 2019-01-01 -- 2021-12-31.

Ämneskategorier

Materialkemi

Annan fysik

Husbyggnad

DOI

10.1016/j.jsamd.2024.100720

Relaterade dataset

Customized and high-performing acoustic levitators for contact-free experiments [dataset]

DOI: 10.1016/j.jsamd.2024.100720

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2024-05-23