We present a microfluidic platform for two-dimensional manipulation of water droplets immersed in bulk oil-based ferrofluid. Although non-magnetic, the droplets are exclusively controlled by magnetic fields, without any pressure-driven flow. The diphasic fluid layer is trapped in a submillimeter Hele-Shaw chamber that includes permalloy tracks on its substrate. An in-plane rotating magnetic fie...

Motion of a droplet on a planar surface has applications in droplet-based lab on a chip technology. This paper reports the experimental results of the shape, contact angles, and motion of ferrofluid droplets driven by a permanent magnet on a planar homogeneous surface. The water-based ferrofluid in use is a colloidal suspension of single-domain magnetic nanoparticles. The effect of the magnetic...

In this work, a stable NiFe2O4 paraffin based ferrofluid was prepared via high energy milling. The rheological properties of ferrofluid were studied. Bingham plastic, HerschelBulkley and Casson models were used to evaluate the shear stress-shear rate dependency. The ferrofluid exhibited a shear thinning behaviour for all studied magnetic field. The magneto-viscous effect and thixotropy of...

Ferrofluids are suspensions of magnetic particles of diameter approximately 10 nm stabilized by surfactants in carrier liquids. The large magnetic susceptibility of ferrofluids allows the mobilization of ferrofluid through permeable rock and soil by the application of strong external magnetic fields. We have developed simulation capabilities for both miscible and immiscible conceptualizations o...

This paper demonstrates the use of magnetically controlled microfluidic devices to produce monodispersed ferrofluid emulsions. By applying a uniform magnetic field on flow-focusing and T-junction configurations, the size of the ferrofluid emulsions can be actively controlled. The influences of the flow rates, the orientation, and the polarity of the magnetic field on the size of ferrofluid emul...

We have calculated the general dispersion relationship for surface waves on a ferrofluid layer of any thickness and viscosity, under the influence of a uniform vertical magnetic field. The amplification of these waves can induce an instability called peaks instability (Rosensweig instability). The expression of the dispersion relationship requires that the critical magnetic field and the critic...

This paper reports experimental and numerical results of the deformation of a ferrofluid droplet on a superhydrophobic surface under the effect of a uniform magnetic field. A water-based ferrofluid droplet surrounded by immiscible mineral oil was stretched by a magnetic field parallel to the substrate surface. The results show that an increasing flux density increases the droplet width and decr...

Ferrofluid spin-up flow has been studied in finite height cylinders and spheres subjected to a uniform rotating magnetic field. Ultrasound measurements in finite height cylinders with a free surface show the presence of surface driven flows as well as bulk flows. In finite height cylinders with a cover, only bulk flows exist. Ultrasound measurements in fully filled spheres of ferrofluid give ne...

We systematically study the shape and dynamics of a Newtonian ferrofluid drop immersed in an immiscible, Newtonian and non-magnetic viscous fluid under the action of a uniform external magnetic field. We obtain the exact equilibrium drop shapes for arbitrary ferrofluids, characterize the extent of deviations of the exact shape from the commonly assumed ellipsoidal shape, and analyse the smoothn...

We study the response of magnetic nanoparticle suspensions (ferrofluids) to uniform rotating magnetic fields generated by a two-pole three-phase magnetic induction motor stator winding. Measurements of the torque required to rotate a polycarbonate spindle submerged in ferrofluid subjected to co-rotating and counter-rotating fields yield experimental observations of negative magnetoviscosity in ...