Small sphere or cylinder filled by a solvent

In summary, the conversation discusses the idea of creating a small glass cylinder containing a solvent such as acetone or methanol without any air bubbles and with a diameter of 2-4 mm for NMR experiments. The suggestion is to use a professional glass-blower to create the cylinder or to purchase glass tubing and plate glass to create it yourself. There is also a suggestion to use liquid nitrogen to reduce evaporation, but this is deemed dangerous. The conversation also explores the option of using a hollow thin bore capillary needle to inject the solvent and seal it off, but the process is not fully understood and has not been successfully tested.
  • #1
_maxim_
105
6
how can I create a spheric glass ball or a closed cylinder containing a solvent as acetone or methanol?
the ideal would be without air bubble inside and diameter in the range of 2-4 mm

thanx
max
 
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  • #2
Maybe you could get a professional glass-blower to do it for you. Your liquid could be used instead of air in the blowpipe (if it doesn't catch on fire or evaporate so violently that it blasts the molten glass to pieces).

edit: Well, now that you've edited your question to include a cylinder as well as a sphere, there's nothing to it. Just buy some glass tubing, and some plate glass, then cut disks out of the plates to glue onto the ends of the tube.
 
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  • #3
thank you for your reply.

I surely have no experience in blowing / soldering small glass objects.
can you address me where to buy such glass pipe or cylinders, or where I can learn how to do that?
the solvent could be flammable or explosive so it could be necessary to reduce its evaporation by freezing into liquid nitrogen, but this is another history..

thanks in advance
max
 
  • #4
maxim said:
it could be necessary to reduce its evaporation by freezing into liquid nitrogen

NO!
That's just inviting an explosion.
Let's back up a bit here. How old are you and what is your level of education? This is starting to seem dangerous.
 
  • #5
Glass blowing and acetone seem a tad incompatible.
 
  • #6
rollingstein said:
Glass blowing and acetone seem a tad incompatible.
I had my doubts about it as well, but figured that it might be possible if the glob is being formed in the wet newspaper as opposed to in the flame.
 
  • #7
Danger said:
NO!
That's just inviting an explosion.
Let's back up a bit here. How old are you and what is your level of education? This is starting to seem dangerous.

I am 45 y old and I am working with liquid nitrogen and helium (-270 K) from 20 years to do maintenance of superconductive magnets.
 
  • #8
maxim said:
I am 45 y old and I am working with liquid nitrogen and helium (-270 K) from 20 years to do maintenance of superconductive magnets.

So do you plan to store these balls in liquid nitrogen until you're ready to use them? If you form them under those conditions, they will pretty much explode once they warm up.
 
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  • #9
the idea was slowly filling the cilinder with acetone and refrigering the glass by using liquid nitrogen as external container; this is what one can do when a glass tube containing i.e. methanol has to be sealed for NMR experiments. The point here are the small dimensions... Today I will check with the phisical department if they can realize a small cyinder using PEK polymer.
 
  • #10
Okay. Well then... check around with your colleagues as to feasibility. I very well could be wrong, but my gut feeling is that nitrogen is a bad idea.
 
  • #11
maxim said:
the idea was slowly filling the cilinder with acetone and refrigering the glass by using liquid nitrogen as external container; this is what one can do when a glass tube containing i.e. methanol has to be sealed for NMR experiments. The point here are the small dimensions... Today I will check with the phisical department if they can realize a small cyinder using PEK polymer.

But, what is general idea? To do NMR experiments with various solutions? I would use long silica or ftorpolymer tube, connected to the pump and source of substances at one side. It would be cheaper for a set of experiments.
 
  • #12
Graniar said:
But, what is general idea? To do NMR experiments with various solutions?

Experiments? :confused:

I thought he was making party favours. :frown:
 
  • #13
Graniar said:
But, what is general idea? To do NMR experiments with various solutions? I would use long silica or ftorpolymer tube, connected to the pump and source of substances at one side. It would be cheaper for a set of experiments.

Yes, the idea is generally related to NMR applications. In particolar I am looking for a way to improve the field stability in home-built probeheads for custom measures. I have to design a RF circuit around the small cylinder containing a non-viscous deuterated solvent as Acetone-d6
 
  • #14
maxim said:
Yes, the idea is generally related to NMR applications. In particolar I am looking for a way to improve the field stability in home-built probeheads for custom measures. I have to design a RF circuit around the small cylinder containing a non-viscous deuterated solvent as Acetone-d6

How about using a hollow thin bore cappilary needle to inject in pre-degassed acetone? The needle can easily be embedded in by the glassblower. Then either snap off the needle and seal off the exposed end by heat / electric arc etc. That should be an instantaneous weld for such a thin bore. That is if you are ok with the leftover needle segment.

If not, post injection heat the needle segment externally and as soon as local glass melting occurs draw it out gently. Not easy.

With 3mm sized spheres the fire risk is pretty small.
 
  • #15
rollingstein said:
How about using a hollow thin bore cappilary needle to inject in pre-degassed acetone? The needle can easily be embedded in by the glassblower. Then either snap off the needle and seal off the exposed end by heat / electric arc etc. That should be an instantaneous weld for such a thin bore. That is if you are ok with the leftover needle segment.

If not, post injection heat the needle segment externally and as soon as local glass melting occurs draw it out gently. Not easy.

With 3mm sized spheres the fire risk is pretty small.

It sounds interesting. But I do not think I have fully understood the steps to fill a capillary tube and weld the two ends without creating air bubbles...

You have already successfully tested the method?

Is there something to view/read on internet?
 
  • #16
maxim said:
It sounds interesting. But I do not think I have fully understood the steps to fill a capillary tube and weld the two ends without creating air bubbles...

You have already successfully tested the method?

Is there something to view/read on internet?

Not at all. I was brainstorming.

It might be a total dud for all I know.
 
  • #17
maxim said:
Yes, the idea is generally related to NMR applications. In particolar I am looking for a way to improve the field stability in home-built probeheads for custom measures. I have to design a RF circuit around the small cylinder containing a non-viscous deuterated solvent as Acetone-d6

1. At the temperature of glass melting acetone will decompose. So, if you need to weld glass or especially bore capillary, you will need some gas medium, ie Ar.
Or use some other shell material, in example ftorpolymer analogue of epoxy resin. To form acetone bubbles in the non-cured resin.

2. solving probe substance in polar solvents like acetone may significantly widen spectrum via shifting energy levels.
May be better to use pure gas to reduce intermolecular interaction?

3. If those probeheads will be anyway cooled by liquid nitrogen, why not use SQUID instead?
 
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  • #18
Graniar said:
1. At the temperature of glass melting acetone will decompose. So, if you need to weld glass or especially bore capillary, you will need some gas medium, ie Ar.
Or use some other shell material, in example ftorpolymer analogue of epoxy resin. To form acetone bubbles in the non-cured resin.

That's why I thought to use liquid nitrogen to cool down the cylinder containing the Acetone when the glass has to be sealed.

2. solving probe substance in polar solvents like acetone may significantly widen spectrum via shifting energy levels.
May be better to use pure gas to reduce intermolecular interaction?

In the cylinder there are no other mixed solutions/samples other than Acetone-d6, the source of deuterium for the 2H detector.

3. If those probeheads will be anyway cooled by liquid nitrogen, why not use SQUID instead?

The probes will work at room temperature and will use dry air rather than liquid N2.
 
  • #19
Today I have got a first prototype of such a cylinder in made PVC.
Going to test the sealing...
 

1. What is a small sphere or cylinder filled by a solvent?

A small sphere or cylinder filled by a solvent refers to a scientific experiment in which a small, hollow sphere or cylinder is filled with a liquid solvent to study its properties and behavior.

2. What is the purpose of filling a small sphere or cylinder with a solvent?

The purpose of this experiment is to understand how the solvent interacts with the walls of the sphere or cylinder, as well as any other materials or substances present in the solution. This can provide insights into the properties of the solvent and its interactions with other substances.

3. How is the solvent chosen for this experiment?

The solvent used in this experiment is typically chosen based on its properties and compatibility with the materials present in the sphere or cylinder. Factors such as polarity, solubility, and reactivity may be considered when selecting a solvent.

4. What types of measurements are taken in this experiment?

Various measurements can be taken during this experiment, depending on the specific research question. These may include changes in volume, pressure, temperature, or concentration of the solvent in the sphere or cylinder, as well as observations of any physical or chemical changes that occur.

5. How is this experiment relevant to real-world applications?

Studying the behavior of solvents in small spheres or cylinders can have practical applications in fields such as materials science, pharmaceuticals, and environmental engineering. This research can help improve our understanding of how solvents behave in different conditions and how they may interact with other substances, leading to potential advancements in various industries.

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