Synthesis and characterization of uniaxial ferrogels with Ni nanorods as magnetic phase

In the present study, the rotation of magnetic nanorods in a soft hydrogel matrix induced by a homogeneous magnetic field is investigated. Magnetic nanorods of approximate to 151.2 nm length and approximate to 17.7 nm diameter are synthesized via current-pulsed electrodeposition of nickel into porous aluminum oxide-templates. The nanorods are processed towards a stable colloidal dispersion by dissolution of the alumina template in aqueous NaOH to which PVP (polyvinyl-pyrrolidone) is added as surfactant. These suspensions are used to prepare gelatine-based ferrogels of different shear modulus with either isotropic or uniaxial orientation-distribution of the nanorods. While magnetization measurements of rigid ferrogels mainly reflect the magnetic properties of the nickel nanorods, the magnetization behavior of soft ferrogels is significantly influenced by a field-induced rotation of the nickel nanorods in the low compliant matrix. A particular analysis of magnetization measurements on uniaxial ferrogels enables to quantify the rotation angle of the nanorods with respect to their initial orientation under the influence of a transversal homogeneous magnetic field. The analysis of the field-dependent rotation also allows to estimate the local shear modulus of the matrix which is demonstrated by an investigation of room temperature ageing process of the ferrogel. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.