Ferromagnetic fluid

In the early nineties of the last century, the movie "Terminator-2" appeared on the screens of cinemas. All spectators were impressed by the ability of the cyborg killer of viscous metal, played by Robert Patrick, to take on a variety of guises.

Then, admiring the professionally done computer animation, we did not think that the effect of the fantastic transformations of the killer cyborg can be modeled in real conditions.

Ferromagnetic liquid - this is the material that allows you to see moving sculptural compositions. All substances can attract or repel to the classical magnetic field . But the reaction of most of them is so weak that it can be detected only by special devices. It would be great if it were possible to increase the magnetic properties of materials without destroying their structure and drastically changing their original properties.

Everything changed when the chemists intervened to solve this problem and created ferromagnetic fluids having good fluidity. They were able to get the smallest magnetic particles that were introduced into the liquid, and when they were exposed to a magnetic field they did not get bogged down or settle, but made the liquid "solid".

Ferromagnetic liquid is a colloidal dispersion of ferrites, ferromagnets with very small particles stabilized in an aqueous or hydrocarbon medium, with the support of surface active substances. Such fluids are resistant for several years and have good fluidity in combination with the properties of magnetism.

A ferromagnetic fluid can be obtained in many ways. The process is quite simple and consists of two stages. Initially, it is necessary to obtain magnetic particles with dimensions close to colloidal. And already further - to stabilize them in a liquid basis.

Very topical for researchers remains the topic of the possibility of practical application of such liquids. In recent years, they are working on the purification of waste water with such liquids from oil products. The principle of this process is the magnetization of petroleum products by introducing magnetic liquids into the waste water. And then the magnetized oil products are separated by special systems.

Ferromagnetic liquid will find its application in medicine. For example, antineoplastic drugs harm healthy cells. But if you mix medicines with such a liquid and inject the patient into the blood, and the tumor has a magnet, the mixture will concentrate in the right place and will not damage the entire body.

And here is another example. Companies that produce racing cars pour ferromagnetic liquids into their shock absorbers. The electromagnet brought to them instantly makes the fluid viscous or flowing. Thus, the suspension of the car is regulated.

There are also curious properties of such liquids. If a sound wave is passed through a magnetized liquid, then an electric driving force appears in the inductive coil located side by side. And further. If you add a magnetic fluid to the soap bubble solution , you get a fascinating presentation.