Separation of a mixture of particles into its individual components with the aid of the magneto-Archimedes separation

•The magneto-Archimedes separation is based on the magnetic levitation of materials.•It allows for separating mixtures into its components by the difference of properties.•The separation of mixture of spheres larger than 20 μm was confirmed experimentally.•It enables the simultaneous quantitative analysis of multiple particles.

The magneto-Archimedes separation allows for separating mixtures of feeble magnetic materials into its components based on the difference of their densities and magnetic susceptibilities. So far, this technique was applied for the separation of relatively large particles of several millimeters in diameter. Here we apply this technique experimentally to the simultaneous quantitative analysis of multiple micrometer-sized particles in a fluid. It was confirmed that the magneto-Archimedes separation can be applied for the separation of mixture of microspheres larger than 20 μm. Further high performance separation efficiency is expected with the optimization of separation conditions including the control of the spatial distribution of the magnetic field.