A rheometer dedicated for the investigation of viscoelastic effects in commercial magnetic fluids

The investigation of viscoelastic properties of commercial ferrofluids based on nanosized magnetite particles in various carrier liquids requires a dedicated rheometer allowing the detection of extremely small changes in viscous and viscoelastic properties. The observation of magnetoviscoelastic behavior in commercial ferrofluids may become particularly important since they exhibit long-term stability allowing reproducibility of the experiments. In addition, they are of relatively simple composition reducing the problems in theoretical description of the observed effects. We will present here the design and main performance data of a rheometer developed for the kind of investigations mentioned above. The quality of the performance will be demonstrated with some new data on rheological properties of a commercial ferrofluid.