Structuring from nanoparticles in oil-based ferrofluids

Z. Rozynek; A. Józefczak; K.D. Knudsen; A. Skumiel; T. Hornowski; J.O. Fossum; M. Timko; P. Kopčanský; M. Koneracká

doi:10.1140/epje/i2011-11028-5

2022 Impact factor 1.8

Soft Matter and Biological Physics

Open Access

Eur. Phys. J. E (2011) 34: 28
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2011-11028-5

Regular Article

Structuring from nanoparticles in oil-based ferrofluids

Z. Rozynek¹^*, A. Józefczak², K.D. Knudsen³, A. Skumiel², T. Hornowski², J.O. Fossum¹, M. Timko⁴, P. Kopčanský⁴ and M. Koneracká⁴

¹ Department of Physics, NTNU, Høgskoleringen 5, NO-7491, Trondheim, Norway
² Institute of Acoustics, Faculty of Physics, UAM, Umultowska 85, 61-614, Poznań, Poland
³ Physics Department, IFE, 2027, Kjeller, Norway
⁴ Institute of Experimental Physics, SAV, Watsonova 47, 040 01, Košice, Slovakia

^* e-mail: zbigniew.rozynek@ntnu.no

Received: 10 October 2010
Accepted: 18 February 2011
Published online: 18 March 2011

Abstract

The effect of magnetic field on the structure formation in an oil-based magnetic fluid with various concentrations of magnetite particles was studied. The evaluation of the experimental data obtained from small-angle X-ray scattering and ultrasonic attenuation indicates the formation of chain-like aggregates composed of magnetite particles. The experimental data obtained from ultrasonic spectroscopy fit well with the recent theoretical model by Shliomis, Mond and Morozov but only for a diluted magnetic fluid. In this model it is assumed that a dimer is the main building block of a B -field-induced chain-like structure, thus the estimation of the nematic order parameter does not depend on the actual length of the structure. The scattering method used reveals information about the aggregated structure size and relative changes in the degree of anisotropy in qualitative terms. The coupling constant , concentrations , average particle size d and its polydispersity were initially obtained using the vibrating sample magnetometry and these results were further confirmed by rheometry and scattering methods. Both the particles’ orientational distribution and the nematic order parameter S were inferred from the ultrasonic measurements. The investigation of SAXS patterns reveals the orientation and sizes of aggregated structures under application of different magnetic-field strengths. In addition, the magnetic-field-dependent yield stress was measured, and a relationship between the yield stress and magnetic-field strength up to 0.5T was established.