Magnetocaloric effect and heat capacity of ferrimagnetic nanosystems: Magnetite-based magnetic liquids and suspensions

Abstract

The magnetocaloric effect (MCE) and heat capacity of magnetite-based magnetic liquids and suspensions of magnetite in cyclohexane and water were studied calorimetrically at various temperatures and magnetic inductions. It was found that the magnetocaloric effect in the systems under study increases nonlinearly with the magnetic induction. In contrast to monocrystalline magnetite, the inverse temperature dependence was observed for the MCE in the nanosystems studied over the entire temperature range covered; i.e., the effect decreases with increasing temperature. It was found that the dependence of the specific heat on the magnetic induction passes through a maximum for all the systems at all temperatures tested; its height increases with the temperature. The extremal character of the dependence can be explained by the formation of chain structures of magnetite nanoparticles in the presence of a magnetic field.