Dielectric behavior of some ferrofluids in low-frequency fields

The dielectric behavior of a ferrofluid with magnetite particles dispersed in kerosene was analyzed taking into account the Schwarz model, concerning the low-frequency dielectric behavior in systems consisting of colloidal particles suspended in electrolytes. For this reason, the complex dielectric permittivity and dielectric loss factor, in the frequency range of 10 Hz-500 kHz, at different temperatures between 20degreesC and 100degreesC were measured. Based on these experimental results, the experimental dependencies on both temperature of the relaxation time and activation energy of the relaxation process were analyzed. The obtained results show that the Schwarz model can be applied, in order to explain the low-frequency dielectric behavior of a ferrofluid with magnetite particles in kerosene, if the change of counterion concentration at the surface of colloidal particles is taken into account. Consequently, it is shown that the dielectric spectroscopy can be used in order to analyze the presence of particle agglomerations within ferrofluids. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA).