Magnetoviscous properties of Fe3O4 silicon oil based ferrofluid

A Fe3O4 silicon oil-based ferrofluid (FF) was prepared and the viscosity properties of the FFs were investigated by a rotating viscometer and a torsional oscillation cup viscometer, respectively. Experimental results show that the viscosity of the FFs decreases with increasing temperature, and increases with increasing magnetic field intensity due to the existence of the magnetic particles. The hysteresis curve of the viscosity-magnetic field shows that the formation and destruction of chain-like or drop-like structures has obvious effect on the viscosity of the FFs. When the field is relatively strong, the viscosity at the decreasing stage is higher than that at the increasing stage. In contrast, when the field is relatively weak, the viscosity at the decreasing stage is slightly lower than that at the increasing stage. In addition, the relation between viscosity of the FFs and time under the magnetic field shows that time is an effective factor in the evolution of the magnetically induced structures. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.