In-Field Orientation and Dynamics of Ferrofluids Studied by Mössbauer Spectroscopy

By studying the response behavior of ferrofluids of 6–22 nm maghemite nanoparticles in glycerol solution exposed to external magnetic fields, we demonstrate the ability of Mössbauer spectroscopy to access a variety of particle dynamics and static magnetic particle characteristics at the same time, offering an extensive characterization of ferrofluids for in-field applications; field-dependent particle alignment and particle mobility in terms of Brownian motion have been extracted simultaneously from a series of Mössbauer spectra for single-core particles as well as for particle agglomerates. Additionally, information on Néel superspin relaxation and surface spin frustration could be directly inferred from this analysis. Parameters regarding Brownian particle dynamics, as well as Néel-type relaxation behavior, obtained via Mössbauer spectroscopy, have been verified by complementary AC-susceptometry experiments, modulating the AC-field amplitude, and using an extended frequency range of 10–1 to 106 Hz, while field-dependent particle alignment has been cross-checked via magnetometry.