Cryogenic grinding

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An example of a solenoid powered cryogenic grinder. Cryogenic Grinder.jpg
An example of a solenoid powered cryogenic grinder.
How cryogenic grinding with a solenoid works COIL1.gif
How cryogenic grinding with a solenoid works

Cryogenic grinding, also known as freezer milling, freezer grinding, and cryomilling, is the act of cooling or chilling a material and then reducing it into a small particle size. For example, thermoplastics are difficult to grind to small particle sizes at ambient temperatures because they soften, adhere in lumpy masses and clog screens. When chilled by dry ice, liquid carbon dioxide or liquid nitrogen, the thermoplastics can be finely ground to powders suitable for electrostatic spraying and other powder processes. [1] Cryogenic grinding of plant and animal tissue is a technique used by microbiologists. Samples that require extraction of nucleic acids must be kept at −80 °C or lower during the entire extraction process. For samples that are soft or flexible at room temperature, cryogenic grinding may be the only viable technique for processing samples. [2] A number of recent studies report on the processing and behavior of nanostructured materials via cryomilling. [3]

Contents

Freezer milling

Freezer milling is a type of cryogenic milling that uses a solenoid to mill samples. The solenoid moves the grinding media back and forth inside the vial, grinding the sample down to analytical fineness. This type of milling is especially useful in milling temperature sensitive samples, as samples are milled at liquid nitrogen temperatures. The idea behind using a solenoid is that the only "moving part" in the system is the grinding media inside the vial. The reason for this is that at liquid nitrogen temperatures (–196°C) any moving part will come under huge stress leading to potentially poor reliability. Cryogenic milling using a solenoid has been used for over 50 years and has been proved to be a very reliable method of processing temperature sensitive samples in the laboratory.

Cryomilling

Cryomilling is a variation of mechanical milling, in which metallic powders or other samples (e.g. temperature sensitive samples and samples with volatile components) are milled in a cryogen (usually liquid nitrogen or liquid argon) slurry or at a cryogenics temperature under processing parameters, so a nanostructured microstructure is attained. Cryomilling takes advantage of both the cryogenic temperatures and conventional mechanical milling. [4] The extremely low milling temperature suppresses recovery and recrystallization and leads to finer grain structures and more rapid grain refinement. [5] The embrittlement of the sample makes even elastic and soft samples grindable. Tolerances less than 5 µm can be achieved. The ground material can be analyzed by a laboratory analyzer.

Applications in biology

Cryogenic grinding (or "cryogrinding") is a method of cell disruption employed by molecular life scientists to obtain broken cell material with favorable properties for protein extraction and affinity capture. [6] [7] Once ground, the fine powder consisting of broken cells (or "grindate") can be stored for long periods at –80°C without obvious changes to biochemical properties – making it a very convenient source material in e.g. proteomic studies including affinity capture / mass spectrometry.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cryogenics</span> Study of the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures

In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metallurgy</span> Field of science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metals

Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liquid nitrogen</span> Liquid state of nitrogen

Liquid nitrogenLN2—is nitrogen in a liquid state at low temperature. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of about −196 °C (−321 °F; 77 K). It is produced industrially by fractional distillation of liquid air. It is a colorless, mobile liquid whose viscosity is about one tenth that of acetone. Liquid nitrogen is widely used as a coolant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Selective laser sintering</span> 3D printing technique

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an additive manufacturing (AM) technique that uses a laser as the power and heat source to sinter powdered material, aiming the laser automatically at points in space defined by a 3D model, binding the material together to create a solid structure. It is similar to selective laser melting; the two are instantiations of the same concept but differ in technical details. SLS is a relatively new technology that so far has mainly been used for rapid prototyping and for low-volume production of component parts. Production roles are expanding as the commercialization of AM technology improves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ball mill</span> Machine used to grind or blend materials

A ball mill is a type of grinder used to grind or blend materials for use in mineral dressing processes, paints, pyrotechnics, ceramics, and selective laser sintering. It works on the principle of impact and attrition: size reduction is done by impact as the balls drop from near the top of the shell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cryostat</span>

A cryostat is a device used to maintain low cryogenic temperatures of samples or devices mounted within the cryostat. Low temperatures may be maintained within a cryostat by using various refrigeration methods, most commonly using cryogenic fluid bath such as liquid helium. Hence it is usually assembled into a vessel, similar in construction to a vacuum flask or Dewar. Cryostats have numerous applications within science, engineering, and medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cell disruption</span>

Cell disruption is a method or process for releasing biological molecules from inside a cell.

Protein methods are the techniques used to study proteins. There are experimental methods for studying proteins. Computational methods typically use computer programs to analyze proteins. However, many experimental methods require computational analysis of the raw data.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Powder coating</span> Type of coating applied as a free-flowing, dry powder

Powder coating is a type of coating that is applied as a free-flowing, dry powder. Unlike conventional liquid paint which is delivered via an evaporating solvent, powder coating is typically applied electrostatically and then cured under heat or with ultraviolet light. The powder may be a thermoplastic or a thermoset polymer. It is usually used to create a hard finish that is tougher than conventional paint. Powder coating is mainly used for coating of metals, such as household appliances, aluminium extrusions, drum hardware, automobiles, and bicycle frames. Advancements in powder coating technology like UV-curable powder coatings allow for other materials such as plastics, composites, carbon fiber, and MDF to be powder coated due to the minimum heat and oven dwell time required to process these components.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burr (edge)</span> Piece of material left on a workpiece after some operation

A burr is a raised edge or small piece of material that remains attached to a workpiece after a modification process. It is usually an unwanted piece of material and is removed with a deburring tool in a process called deburring. Burrs are most commonly created by machining operations, such as grinding, drilling, milling, engraving or turning. It may be present in the form of a fine wire on the edge of a freshly sharpened tool or as a raised portion of a surface; this type of burr is commonly formed when a hammer strikes a surface. Deburring accounts for a significant portion of manufacturing costs.

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The Glossary of fuel cell terms lists the definitions of many terms used within the fuel cell industry. The terms in this fuel cell glossary may be used by fuel cell industry associations, in education material and fuel cell codes and standards to name but a few.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cryopreservation</span> Process to preserve biological matter

Cryopreservation or cryoconservation is a process where biological material - cells, tissues, or organs - are frozen to preserve the material for an extended period of time. At low temperatures any cell metabolism which might cause damage to the biological material in question is effectively stopped. Cryopreservation is an effective way to transport biological samples over long distances, store samples for prolonged periods of time, and create a bank of samples for users. Molecules, referred to as cryoprotective agents (CPAs), are added to reduce the osmotic shock and physical stresses cells undergo in the freezing process. Some cryoprotective agents used in research are inspired by plants and animals in nature that have unique cold tolerance to survive harsh winters, including: trees, wood frogs, and tardigrades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mechanical alloying</span>

Mechanical alloying (MA) is a solid-state and powder processing technique involving repeated cold welding, fracturing, and re-welding of blended powder particles in a high-energy ball mill to produce a homogeneous material. Originally developed to produce oxide-dispersion strengthened (ODS) nickel- and iron-base superalloys for applications in the aerospace industry, MA has now been shown to be capable of synthesizing a variety of equilibrium and non-equilibrium alloy phases starting from blended elemental or pre-alloyed powders. The non-equilibrium phases synthesized include supersaturated solid solutions, metastable crystalline and quasicrystalline phases, nanostructures, and amorphous alloys.

A cell bank is a facility that stores cells of specific genome for the purpose of future use in a product or medicinal needs, but can also describe the entity of stored cells itself. Cell banks often contain expansive amounts of base cell material that can be utilized for various projects. Cell banks can be used to generate detailed characterizations of cell lines and can also help mitigate cross-contamination of a cell line. Utilizing cell banks also reduces the cost of cell culture processes, providing a cost-efficient alternative to keeping cells in culture constantly. Cell banks are commonly used within fields including stem cell research and pharmaceuticals, with cryopreservation being the traditional method of keeping cellular material intact. Cell banks also effectively reduce the frequency of a cell sample diversifying from natural cell divisions over time.

Single cell oil, also known as Microbial oil consists of the intracellular storage lipids, triacyglycerols. It is similar to vegetable oil, another biologically produced oil. They are produced by oleaginous microorganisms, which is the term for those bacteria, molds, algae and yeast, which can accumulate 20% to 80% lipids of their biomass. The accumulation of lipids take place by the end of logarithmic phase and continues during station phase until carbon source begins to reduce with nutrition limitation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ULT freezer</span> Freezer used for storing contents at unusually low temperatures

An ultra low temperature (ULT) freezer is a refrigerator that stores contents at −40 to −86 °C. An ultra low temperature freezer is commonly referred to as a "minus 80 freezer" or a "negative 80 freezer", referring to the most common temperature standard. ULT freezers come in upright and chest freezer formats.

Individual quick freezing, usually abbreviated IQF, is a descriptive term for freezing methods used in the food processing industry. The food is in individual pieces, and is frozen quickly. Products commonly frozen with IQF technologies are typically smaller pieces of food, and can include berries, fruits and vegetables both diced or sliced, seafood such as shrimp and small fish, meat, poultry, pasta, cheese and grains. Products that have been subjected to IQF are referred to as individually quick frozen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aluminium-based nanogalvanic alloys</span>

Aluminium-based nanogalvanic alloys refer to a class of nanostructured metal powders that spontaneously and rapidly produce hydrogen gas upon contact with water or any liquid containing water as a result of their galvanic metal microstructure. It serves as a method of hydrogen production that can take place at a rapid pace at room temperature without the assistance of chemicals, catalysts, or externally supplied power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aluminum based nanogalvanic alloys</span>

Aluminum based nanogalvanic alloys refer to a class of nanostructured metal powders that spontaneously and rapidly produce oxygen and hydrogen gas upon contact with water or any liquid containing water. This method of hydrogen generation is notable in the field of energy research due to its fast-acting capacity to efficiently create hydrogen at room temperature without the need for any chemicals, catalysts, or externally supplied power.

References

  1. http://composite.about.com/library/glossary/c/bldef-c1386.htm Archived 2006-02-21 at the Wayback Machine Cryogenic Grinding
  2. "Preparing Sample Materials by Cryogenic Grinding". AZoM.com. 2017-08-10. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  3. Pu, Kaichao; Qu, Xiaolei; Zhang, Xin; Hu, Jianjiang; Gu, Changdong; Wu, Yongjun; Gao, Mingxia; Pan, Hongge; Liu, Yongfeng (2019-10-14). "Nanoscaled Lithium Powders with Protection of Ionic Liquid for Highly Stable Rechargeable Lithium Metal Batteries". Advanced Science. 6 (24). doi:10.1002/advs.201901776. ISSN   2198-3844. PMC   6918098 . PMID   31871859.
  4. Suryanarayana C. Mechanical alloying and milling, Progress in Materials Science 46 (2001) 1–184
  5. Suryanarayana C. Mechanical alloying and milling, Progress in Materials Science 46 (2001) 1-184
  6. http://www.ncdir.org/public-resources/protocols/ General methods
  7. http://www.biotechniques.com/rapiddispatches/Improved-methodology-for-the-affinity-isolation-of-human-protein-complexes-expressed-at-near-endogenous-levels/biotechniques-330982.html Archived 2013-03-31 at the Wayback Machine Application to human tissue culture