Kouřil, Karel, Hana Kouřilová, Samuel Bartram, Malcolm H. Levitt, and Benno Meier. “Scalable Dissolution-Dynamic Nuclear Polarization with Rapid Transfer of a Polarized Solid.” Nature Communications 10, no. 1 (December 2019): 1733.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09726-5
In dissolution-dynamic nuclear polarization, nuclear spins are hyperpolarized at cryogenic temperatures using radicals and microwave irradiation. The hyperpolarized solid is dissolved with hot solvent and the solution is transferred to a secondary magnet where strongly enhanced magnetic resonance signals are observed. Here we present a method for transferring the hyperpolarized solid. A bullet containing the frozen, hyperpolarized sample is ejected using pressurized helium gas, and shot into a receiving structure in the secondary magnet, where the bullet is retained and the polarized solid is dissolved rapidly. The transfer takes approximately 70 ms. A solenoid, wound along the entire transfer path ensures adiabatic transfer and limits radical-induced low-field relaxation. The method is fast and scalable towards small volumes suitable for high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy while maintaining high concentrations of the target molecule. Polarization levels of approximately 30% have been observed for 1-13C-labelled pyruvic acid in solution.