Measurement of the extinction coefficients of magnetic fluids

A novel spectral transmittance approach for measuring the extinction coefficient of magnetic fluids is proposed. The measuring principle and accuracy of the approach are analysed. Experiments are conducted to measure the extinction coefficient of magnetic fluids with different particle volume fractions. The relative uncertainty of experimental data is less than 1.8%. The experimental results indicate that the extinction coefficient of magnetic fluids increases with increase of the volume fraction of suspended magnetic nanoparticles and the optical properties of the particle material have a significant effect on the extinction coefficient of the magnetic fluids.