Characterization of energy barrier and particle size distribution of lyophilized ferrofluids by magnetic relaxation measurements

The magnetic properties of a ferrofluid are strongly influenced by its particle size distribution. We analyzed a ferrofluid with an unknown particle size distribution as well as fractionated samples of the original material. The ferrofluid in our investigations consists of a mixture of maghemite and magnetite. We investigated these different samples using temperature-dependent magnetorelaxometry method. The evaluation of the Neel relaxation signal allows us a direct determination of the energy barrier distribution, which is one of the most important parameters of such systems of magnetic nanoparticles. The calculated particle volumes were compared with particle sizes determined by transmission electron microscopy.