In this work, we have investigated the size induced on the viscoelasticity of CoFe ₂ O ₄ magnetic nanofluids (MNFs). The focus of this work is to provide an insight into the effect of varying particle size on viscoelastic properties of CoFe ₂ O ₄ MNFs with varying CoFe ₂ O ₄ nanoparticle sizes. Kerosene-based MNFs containing surfactant coated CoFe ₂ O ₄ were synthesized using standard optimized coprecipitation method, and variations in average mean size ~ 9–30 nm have been synthesized. The physical properties, such as structural and morphology, have been investigated to confirm the purity, and variation in size. Steady-state and oscillatory mode measurements were performed using a magneto-rheometer to investigate the field-induced magneto-rheology. The steady-state rheograms (viscosity vs. shear rate curve) has been well fitted with power-law

$\eta =c\dot {\gamma }^{n}+\eta _{\infty }$

, confirming the shear thinning behavior with

$n\le 1$

. Furthermore, magneto-sweep rheograms (viscosity vs. magnetic field) has been used to investigate the steady increase in viscosity, which is due to the formation of a chain-like structure in the field direction causing an interruption in the smooth streamline flow of the MNFs. Furthermore, dynamic oscillatory measurement shows the transition between G’ and G” with applied dynamic strain confirming solid-liquid phase transition behavior. Field-induced viscoelastic behavior in static and dynamic mode provides significant information for optimization of MNFs for various applications.

Raghav Chaturvedi

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