Magnetic separation of submicron particles

The application of high gradient magnetic separation to the capture of submicron-sized particles is studied. The steady state solution of the diffusion equation applicable to diffusion processes taking place under the influence of external forces is obtained. The relevance of the critical particle size to the phenomena of dynamic and static capture is discussed for various materials ranging from ferromagnetic to diamagnetic. The experimental results obtained are shown to be in satisfactory agreement with the theoretical predictions.