Effects of pulsed magnetic fields on the light scattering property of the freezing process of aqueous solutions

The purpose of the study is to clarify the effect and mechanism of magnetic fields on freeze processes in aqueous solutions. In the present study, an ice crystal formation process in biological aqueous solutions under pulsed train magnetic fields (PMF) of up to 325 T/s at 6.5 mT was observed. The pulsed magnetic field generators were set in a freezer, which controlled the temperature between 10C and 30 degrees C. During ice formation in the aqueous solution, disk-like ice crystal domains appeared, and the PMF-exposure exhibited a vibration of floating objects in the induced electric field directions under the cooled condition when the pulsed train frequency was changed between 10 and 17 Hz. In the freezing process of the aqueous solution with NaCl, the scattered light transmission of the ion containing the aqueous solution increased in the early phase of freezing, and then began to decrease during the late phase when the ice coagulation proceeded. The PMF exposure enhanced the light-scattering increase and decrease in the early and late phases, respectively. The results suggested that a fine ice crystal, which strongly scattered the irradiated light, increased in number in the early phase of the supercooled state when the PMF was applied. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3556776]