Bénard-Marangoni ferroconvection with magnetic field dependent viscosity

The effect of magnetic field dependent viscosity on the onset of Bénard-Marangoni ferroconvection in a horizontal layer of ferrofluid is investigated theoretically. The lower boundary is taken to be rigid with fixed temperature, while the upper free boundary at which temperature-dependent surface tension effect is considered is non-deformable and subject to a general thermal condition. The Rayleigh-Ritz method with Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind as trial functions is employed to extract the critical stability parameters numerically. The results show that the onset of ferroconvection is delayed with an increase in the magnetic field dependent viscosity parameter (Λ) and Biot number (Bi) but opposite is the case with an increase in the value of magnetic Rayleigh number (R_m) and nonlinearity of magnetization (M₃). Further, increase in R_m, M₃, and decrease in Λ and Bi is to decrease the size of the convection cells.     

Adiabatic vs. non-adiabatic determination of specific absorption rate of ferrofluids

The measurement of temperature variations in adiabatic conditions allows the determination of the specific absorption rate of magnetic nanoparticles and ferrofluids from the correct incremental expression, SAR=(1/m_MNP)C(ΔT/Δt). However, when measurements take place in non-adiabatic conditions, one must approximate this expression by SAR≈Cβ/m_MNP, where β is the initial slope of the temperature vs. time curve during alternating field application. The errors arising from the use of this approximation were estimated through several experiments with different isolating conditions, temperature sensors and sample-sensor contacts. It is concluded that small to appreciable errors can appear, which are difficult to infer or control.     

表面羧基化Fe3O4磁性纳米粒子的快捷制备及表征

亲水性磁性纳米颗粒在生物科学领域有着广泛应用,本研究提出了一种快速对磁性纳米粒子表面进行羧基化的方法. 首先使用氯化铁和氯化亚铁为原料, 以油酸为表面活性剂, 通过共沉淀法制得油酸包覆的亲油性磁性纳米粒子, 然后用高锰酸钾进行原位氧化, 将覆盖在粒子表面的油酸中的C＝C键氧化成-COOH, 从而得到单层羧基功能化的亲水性磁性纳米粒子. 利用透射电镜(TEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)、傅利叶红外光谱仪(FT-IR)、热重分析仪(TGA)、振动样品磁强计(VSM)、Zeta电位分析仪等对其进行表征. 结果表明磁性纳米粒子表面被成功羧基化,粒子的平均直径约为9 nm,饱和磁化值为64.5 emu/g,剩磁和矫顽力近似为零,具有典型的超顺磁性. 羧基化磁性纳米粒子可在pH7-10的水溶液中形成稳定分散的磁流体,保存6周无沉淀出现.     

Studies on interaction of ferrofluid with ascorbic acid in aqueous acidic medium

The solution chemistry of the interaction of ferrofluid with ascorbic acid in dilute solutions has been investigated in the temperature range of 15–45°C. Kinetic, mechanistic and thermodynamic aspects of the reactions were studied by spectrophotometric and potentiometric techniques.     

FERROFLUID CONTAINING SOLUBLE CONDUCTIVE POLYANILINE AND ITS FREESTANDING FILMS

Ferrofluid containing highly conductive polyaniline (PANI) was prepared, in which soluble PANI solutions dopedwith 10-camphorsulfonic acid (CSA) and dodecyl benzenesulfonic acid (DBSA) were used as the basic solution and Fe_3O_4nanoparticles (d = 10 nm) as the magnetic material. Moreover, the freestanding films of the resulting ferrofluid can beobtained by an evaporation method. The electrical and magnetic properties of the ferrofluid or its films can be adjustedthrough changing the content of PANI and Fe_3O_4. High saturated magnetization (≈ 30 emu/g) and high conductivity(≈ 250 S/cm) of the composite films can be achieved when the composite film contains 26.6 wt% of Fe_3O_4. In particular, itwas found that the composite films exhibit a super-paramagnetic behavior (Hc = 0) attributed to the size of Fe_3O_4 particles on the nanometer scale.     

Suitability of commercial colloids for magnetic hyperthermia

Commercial nanoparticles supplied by Chemicell, Micromod and Bayer-Schering were characterised with regard to their nanocrystalline diameter, hydrodynamic diameter, total iron content and relative ferrous iron content. Additionally, calorimetric measurements were taken using a 900 kHz AC magnetic field of amplitude 5.66 kA/m. It was found that those samples containing relatively high (>18%) ferrous content generated a substantially smaller (12% on average) intrinsic loss power (ILP) than those samples with a lower ferrous content. Two nominally identical Chemicell samples that differed only in their production date showed significantly different ILPs, attributed to a variation in batch-to-batch crystallite sizes. The highest ILP values in the cohort, ca. 3.1 nHm²/kg, were achieved for particles with hydrodynamic diameters of ca. 70 nm and nanocrystalline diameters of ca. 12 nm. These compare favourably with most samples prepared in academic laboratories, although they are not as high as the ca. 23.4 nHm²/kg reported for naturally occurring bacterial magnetosomes.     

Ferrite-enhanced MRI monitoring in hyperthermia

In an MRI hyperthermia hybrid system, T₁ changes are investigated for monitoring thermal therapy at 0.2 T. The water bolus, which is needed for power transmission and cooling of the skin, limits MR image quality by signal compression and artifacts. Superparamagnetic ferrofluid in different concentration was investigated with MR relaxometry and MRI methods. We found that using ferrofluid in a low concentration of 70–90 ppm magnetite the water signal can be suppressed without susceptibility artifacts. With our method of signal suppression, a significant improvement of spatial and temporal resolution is possible. The ferrofluid is stable and allows RF heating at 100 MHz. This method of signal extinction may also be useful for other experimental setups where suppression of water is necessary.     

Magnetite ferrofluid with high specific absorption rate for application in hyperthermia

A magnetite ferrofluid coated by dextran with a high specific absorption rate (SAR) of 75 W/g in an AC field of 55 kHz and 200 Oe was prepared by the gel crystallization method with ultrasonic treatment. For comparison, uncoated magnetite particles with a mean diameter of 50 nm were also fabricated. Several possible mechanisms such as Brownian, Neel and diffusion relaxation processes on heating effects and their influence on SAR are discussed. Several factors which can increase the value of SAR were discussed, including dextran coating, ultrasonic treatment, proper particle size and the presence of defects and disorder in the particles.     

Towards ferrofluids with enhanced magnetization

It is well known that the saturation magnetization of a sterically stabilized magnetic fluid (ferrofluid) is limited by the presence of a surfactant coating on the surface, and in some cases, by an effectively demagnetized surface layer in the solid magnetic particle. These surface layers take up a disproportionate volume in the colloidal dispersion thereby severely limiting the volume fraction of the core magnetic substance. This work proposes and analyzes Janus particles having the objective of increasing the magnetic loading beyond the present day constraints. Using numerical computation of the virial coefficient it is calculated that the magnetic volume fraction of magnetite ferrofluids might be increased by a factor approaching 2 and that of iron-based ferrofluids by a factor of 3.     

Extinction of polarized light in ferrofluids with different magnetic particle concentrations

The magnetic field intensity and nanoparticle concentration dependence of the polarized light extinction in a ferrofluid made of magnetite particles stabilized with technical grade oleic acid dispersed in transformer oil was experimentally investigated. The magnetically induced optical anisotropy, i.e. the dichroism divided by concentration, was found to decrease with increasing sample concentration from 2% to 8%. The magnetically induced change in the optical extinction of light polarized at 54.74° with respect to the magnetic field direction was found to be positive for the less concentrated sample (2%) and negative for the samples with 4% and 8% magnetic nanoparticle concentrations, the more negative the higher the concentration and field intensity. Based on the theoretically proven fact [11] that the particle orientation mechanism has no effect on the extinction of light polarized at 54.74° with respect to the field direction, we analyzed the experimental findings in the frames of the agglomeration and long-range pair correlations theories for the magnetically induced optical anisotropy in ferrofluids. We developed a theoretical model in the approximation of single scattering for the optical extinction coefficient of a ferrofluid with magnetically induced particle agglomeration. The model predicts the existence of a polarization independent component of the optical extinction coefficient that is experimentally measurable at 54.74° polarization angle. The change in the optical extinction of light polarized at 54.74° is positive if only the formation of straight n-particle chains is considered and may become negative in the hypothesis that the longer chains degenerate to more isotropic structures (polymer-like coils, globules or bundles of chains). The model for the influence on the light absorption of the long-range pair correlations, published elsewhere, predicts that the change in the optical extinction of light polarized at 54.74° is always negative, the more negative the higher the magnetic field intensity and particle concentration.