How acoustic levitation technology could improve your chocolate
With Easter around the corner, we may take for granted the creamy chocolate we eat for days (or minutes) after receiving our Easter gifts. But did you know how complex some of the science is that goes into making your chocolate as smooth and silky as it is?
We look at the revolutionary science that can be used to improve the chocolate you eat using the same techniques as Impulsonics’ own acoustic technology.
A tractor beam
Acoustic Levitation
Acoustic levitation is a method for suspending matter in air using acoustic radiation pressure from high intensity sound waves.
This technique is particularly powerful because, unlike magnetic levitation, it is largely independent of the material being levitated. This makes it useful in a range of fields including chemical analysis, materials science, and even assisting in the delicate assembly of small electronic components.
The team at Impulsonics have years of experience in this field. Co-founders Prof. Bruce Drinkwater and Dr Luke Cox, famously helped create a tractor beam that utilised the power of acoustic levitation.
X-Ray Crystallography
X-ray crystallography is a technique to determine a crystal's atomic structure by analyzing how X-rays diffract through it, revealing atomic positions, bonds, and structural details. Nobel Prize winner Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin advanced this field by uncovering the structures of penicillin, vitamin B12, and insulin. Impulsonics has recently collaborated with the Armstrong Group in field tests at the University of Bristol building named after her.
Our Acoustic Engineer, Adam Price has utilised x-ray crystallography at the Neils Bohr Institute in Denmark as part of a team looking at identifying and replacing the fluid in eyeballs!
What’s this got to do with my Easter egg?!
X-ray crystallography is difficult in liquids like molten chocolate, because liquids tend to be in a container that will influence the X-rays. This is where acoustic levitation comes in – holding that liquid up away from any other objects so the X-rays aimed at it can do their job unimpeded.
X-ray crystallography helps improve chocolate by revealing how fat bloom forms—that white layer you’ve probably seen caused by cocoa butter migrating and crystallizing on the surface. It allows scientists to study fat behavior in chocolate’s separate ingredients, enabling better control of crystallization to prevent fat bloom and enhance quality.
Additionally, X-ray crystallography can be used to study the polymorphic states of cocoa butter, which are different crystalline forms that affect the texture and melting properties of chocolate. By identifying and controlling these polymorphs, manufacturers can produce chocolate with that desired texture and stability we want when the Easter bunny delivers!
While Impulsonics’ technology uses some of the same techniques being used to improve chocolate, we sadly won’t improve your Easter Sunday. However, our acoustic technology is helping to further develop automation systems for applications such as cell passaging, which is just as important, if not quite as delicious.
About Impulsonics
Impulsonics is a start-up dedicated to making biotech automation simple and scalable so scientists can focus on the problems that matter. Their unique technology leverages acoustic waves to move cells and particles around inside standard labware without touching them, streamlining existing processes and enabling unique new capabilities.
