How to improve the efficiency of a traditional dissolution Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (dDNP) apparatus: design and performance of a fluid path compatible dDNP/LOD-ESR probe

Dissolution Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (dDNP) was invented almost twenty years ago. Ever since, hardware advancement has observed 2 trends: the quest for DNP at higher field and, more recently, the development of cryogen free polarizers. Despite the DNP community is slowly migrating towards “dry” systems, many “wet” polarizers are still in use.

Traditional DNP polarizers can use up to 100 L of liquid helium per week, but are less sensitive to air contamination and have higher cooling power. These two characteristics make them very versatile when it comes to new methods development. In this study we retrofitted a 5 T/1.15 K “wet” DNP polarizer with the aim of improving cryogenic and DNP performance.

We designed, built, and tested a new DNP insert that is compatible with the fluid path (FP) technology and a LOgitudinal Detected Electron Spin Resonance (LOD-ESR) probe to investigate radical properties at real DNP conditions. The new hardware increased the maximum achievable polarization and the polarization rate constant of a [1-13C]pyruvic acid-trityl sample by a factor 1.5.

Moreover, the increased liquid He holding time together with the possibility to constantly keep the sample space at low pressure upon sample loading and dissolution allowed us to save about 20 L of liquid He per week.