Ferrofluid:

An in-depth study

What is Ferrofluid?

Ferrofluid, Latin ferrum—iron and fluid, is a colloidal suspension, composed of ferromagnetic nano-particles in a liquid, such as water, or some type of oily fluid.

Nanoparticles

•Nanoparticles are objects that are measured in nanometers. Nanometers are 1/100 of a micrometer. Anything measured in micrometers is microscopic so you can imagine the size of a nanoparticle.

• The magnetic nanoparticles in ferrofluid are less than 10 nanometers in diameter. Compare this to the size of a water molecule at 0.278 nanometers.

Normal-field instability

When a paramagnetic fluid is brought near a strong vertical magnetic field, the surface forms a

regular pattern of peaks and valleys. This effect

is known as the normal-field instability. The instability is driven by the magnetic field; it can be explained by considering which shape of the fluid

minimizes the total energy of the system. The reason ferrofluid does this is because it wants to reach out into space as far as possible.

Therefore moving fluid out in some places, and up onto others increases its height.

Paramagnetism

Paramagnetism is a form of magnetism that occurs only in the presence of an externally applied magnetic field. The paramagnetic particles in ferrofluid only become magnetic when a naturally magnetic object comes into contact with them.

Ferrofluid is a Colloid

• A colloid is a substance, like milk, which is composed of billions of particles, microscopically dispersed through a continuous medium.

• Ferrofluid is a Solid in liquid type colloid. This means that it is the same as blood when it comes to colloid type

Gas Liquid

Solid

Gas none(gas naturallymiscible)

fog smoke

Liquid

whipped cream

milk ferro-fluid

Solid

aero-gel

Jello cranberry-glass

Uses of Ferrofluid• Medicine: Cancer detection and

magnetic hyperthermia to cure cancer.

• Optics: Shape shifting mirror for telescopes.

• Engineering: Ferrofluid reduces friction and is used to form liquid seals around hard drives. NASA is also experimenting with ferrofluid in spacecraft, to influence rotation.

• Art: Sachiko Kodama is known for her ferrofluid art and Concept zero, an American art studio creates conversation pieces that use ferrofluid.

Ferrofluid vs. MR fluid

Ferrofluid and MR fluid are different in many ways. For instance, ferrofluid does not settle whereas MR fluid’s larger particles will go to the bottom over time. This means that unlike ferrofluid it must be replaced over time.

E-Ink

• E-ink is electronic paper developed by E-ink Corporation and based of research at the MIT lab. It is currently available in grayscale and color.

• It is based on the idea that if there are positively charged white and negatively charged black particles, depending on the influence it will change the color of the display.

• I used the principle of E -ink to conduct an experiment involving Ferrofluid

Thank you for watching

I will now show a small video and after that you may come to my table where there is an

interactive Ferrofluid display.