Elemental substitution tuned magneto-elastoviscous behavior of nanoscale ferrite MFe2O4 (M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) based complex fluids

Abstract

The present article reports the governing influence of substituting the M 2+ site in nanoscale MFe2O4 spinel ferrites by different magnetic metals (Fe/Mn/Co/Ni) on magnetorheological and magneto-elastoviscous behaviors of the corresponding magnetorheological fluids (MRFs). Different doped MFe2O4 nanoparticles have been synthesized using the polyol-assisted hydrothermal method. Detailed steady and oscillatory shear rheology have been performed on the MRFs to determine the magneto-viscoelastic responses The MRFs exhibit shear thinning behavior and augmented yield characteristics under influence of magnetic field. The steady state magnetoviscous behaviors are scaled against the governing Mason number and self-similar response from all the MRFs have been noted. The MRFs conform to an extended Bingham plastic model under field effect. Transient magnetoviscous responses show distinct hysteresis behaviors when the MRFs are exposed to time varying magnetic fields. Oscillatory shear studies using frequency and strain amplitude sweeps exhibit predominant solid like behaviors under field environment. However, the relaxation behaviors and strain amplitude sweep tests of the MRFs reveal that while the fluids show solid-like behaviors under field effect, they cannot be termed as typical elastic fluids. Comparisons show that the MnFe2O4 MRFs have superior yield performance among all. However, in case of dynamic and oscillatory systems, CoFe2O4 MRFs show the best performance. The viscoelastic responses of the MRFs are noted to correspond to a three element viscoelastic model. The study may find importance in design and development strategies of nano-MRFs for different applications.