Effect of aggregates on the magnetization property of ferrofluids: A model of gaslike compression

The effect of field-induced aggregation of particles on the magnetization property of ferrofluids is investigated. From the viewpoint of energy, magnetizability of ferrofluids is more complicated than predicted by Langevin theory because the aggregation, i.e., the transition of ferrofluid microstructure, would consume the energy of the applied magnetic field. For calculating the effect of aggregates on the magnetization of ferrofluids, a model of gaslike compression (MGC) is proposed to simulate the evolution of the aggregate structure. In this model, the field-induced colloidal particles aggregating in ferrofluids is equivalent to the “gas of the particles” being compressed by the applied magnetic field. The entropy change of the ferrofluid microstructure is proportional to the particle volume fraction in field-induced aggregates φ_H. On the basis of the known behavior of ferrofluid magnetization and the aggregate structure determined from the present experiments, φ_H is obtained and found to depend on the aggregating characteristic parameter of ferrofluid particles γ in addition to the particle volume fraction in ferrofluids φ and the strength of applied magnetic field H. The effect of the nonmagnetic surface layer of ferrofluid particles is also studied. The theory of MGC conforms to our experimental results better than Langevin theory.