Ultracentrifuge

[2] In 1924 Theodor Svedberg built a centrifuge capable of generating 7,000 g (at 12,000 rpm), and called it the ultracentrifuge, to juxtapose it with the Ultramicroscope that had been developed previously.

[5][6][3] In early 1930s, Émile Henriot found that suitably placed jets of compressed air can spin a bearingless top to very high speeds and developed an ultracentrifuge on that principle.

Jesse Beams from the Physics Department at the University of Virginia first adapted that principle to a high-speed camera, and then started improving Henriot's ultracentrifuge, but his rotors consistently overheated.

[7] Beam's student Edward Greydon Pickels solved the problem in 1935 by vacuumizing the system, which allowed a reduction in friction generated at high speeds.

Vacuum systems also enabled the maintenance of constant temperature across the sample, eliminating convection currents that interfered with the interpretation of sedimentation results.

Preparative rotors are used in biology for pelleting of fine particulate fractions, such as cellular organelles (mitochondria, microsomes, ribosomes) and viruses.

[11][12] More recently some rotors have been made of lightweight carbon fiber composite material, which are up to 60% lighter, resulting in faster acceleration/deceleration rates.