Elongation of confined ferrofluid droplets under applied fields
Soft Condensed Matter
2009-10-31 v1
Abstract
Ferrofluids are strongly paramagnetic liquids. We study the behavior of ferrofluid droplets confined between two parallel plates with a weak applied field parallel to the plates. The droplets elongate under the applied field to reduce their demagnetizing energy and reach an equilibrium shape where the magnetic forces balance against the surface tension. This elongation varies logarithmically with aspect ratio of droplet thickness to its original radius, in contrast to the behavior of unconfined droplets. Experimental studies of a ferrofluid/water/surfactant emulsion confirm this prediction.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/9904189,
title = {Elongation of confined ferrofluid droplets under applied fields},
author = {S. Banerjee and M. Fasnacht and S. Garoff and M. Widom},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/9904189},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
12 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. E