Abstract Ferrofluids are colloidal suspensions of single-domain magnetic nanoparticles in a nonmagnetic carrier fluid. Despite the presence of both solid (nanoparticle) and fluid (carrier fluid) phases, the suspension behaves as a fluid in the presence of a magnetic field. The superparamagnetic nature of the suspended particles allows for the suspension to be manipulated by a magnetic field ‘from a distance,’ i.e., without any mechanical actuation system. Although ferrofluids were first developed in the 1960s for drawing liquid fuel against gravity in rocket propulsion systems, the application never materialized commercially in a large scale. However, ferrofluids have been extensively used for other applications such as ferrofluidic seals, loudspeakers, magnetic drug targeting, thermomagnetic convection, magnetic shape-shifting optical mirrors, and energy harvesting. Recently, it was shown that ferrofluids can be used in the micropropulsion sector. In the presence of a magnetic field, a ferrofluid surface naturally deforms to form sharp peaks, the phenomenon being known as Rosensweig instability. For ionic ferrofluids, an amplification of the electric field is present at the tip of these peaks, which leads to electrospray emission. The reaction force due to the emitted droplets results in forward propulsion. In the present chapter, a summary of the basics of ferrofluids and their manipulation techniques is presented, followed by a brief review of ferrofluid-based propulsion techniques.
Ferrofluids for Propulsion
2018-11-04
15 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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