Measurement of the torque on diluted ferrofluid samples in rotating magnetic fields

Abstract

We study magnetic suspensions with different concentrations of ferromagnetic nanoparticles in a spherical container under the action of a rotating magnetic field. Experimental data on the concentration dependence of the rotational effect, viz. the torque exerted by the magnetic field, are presented. We explain the observed torque characteristics using a model that takes into account field-driven aggregation of the magnetic nanoparticles in stationary or slowly rotating fields. At sufficiently high rotation rates, the rotating magnetic field obviously destroys these aggregates, which results in a decreasing torque with increasing rotation frequency of the field.