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Thursday, 12th May 2005 (5768 views)

A new technique using liquid oxygen has allowed scientists to levitate metals such as gold, potentially providing a new technology for the mining and pharmaceutical sectors.<br/><br/>The team at the University of Nottingham used a mix of oxygen and nitrogen in liquid and gas states to levitate items including heavy metals such as gold and platinum.<br/><br/>According to the team led by Professor Laurence Eaves and Professor Peter King, in the University's School of Physics and Astronomy, a safe and optimised mixture works by increasing the buoyancy of a specially designed superconducting magnet.<br/><br/>By using the application, miners could benefit by being able to accurately filter precious metal from its surrounding rock and soil.<br/><br/>Professor King commented: "You can use this technology to accurately sort minerals…The method can discriminate between components with very small differences in density enabling you to extract the precious parts you require."<br/><br/>Even though metals such as gold are heavy the process allows relatively low-power magnets to be used.<br/><br/>The lab is the only one specialising in zero-gravity experiments and is being used by a host of research groups at present.<img alt="track" src="http://directnews.dehavilland.co.uk/dn.gif?feedid=196&itemid=8484277"/>

 

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