Analysis of the effect of foreign gases in the production of hyperpolarized 129Xe gas on a simple system working under atmospheric pressure

Experimental conditions that affect the degree of polarization of 129Xe gas were tested for a higher degree of polarization to facilitate a laboratory use of 129Xe NMR, primarily on the effect of addition of foreign gases. When He, N(2), or D(2) gas was added separately to pure Xe gas with natural isotope abundance, D(2) gas gave better results than the others in enhancing the degree of polarization in 129Xe atom. When these gases were added in mixture, however, N(2) plus He was proved to be more efficient than D(2) or He in enhancing the degree of polarization. As a result, the degree of polarization was found to be increased by more than an order, when diluent gases were properly mixed; polarization as high as 35% was reached at gas composition of 5% Xe, 10% N(2), and 85% He, whereas only a few percent was attainable when Xe gas was polarized without mixing any foreign gases [J. Magn. Reson. 150 (2), 156-160 (2001)]. These results were discussed on a basis of quenching and buffer effects of foreign gases. Polarization was also measured after separating the pure Xe gas from the mixture; value of 22% was obtained for the Xe gas isolated after solidification in liquid nitrogen trap. Build-up time of the polarization was also tested, which did not change remarkably depending on the gas composition.