Theoretical Study of the Magnetization Dynamics of Nondilute Ferrofluids

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the theoretical investigation of the magnetodipolar interparticle interaction effect on magnetization dynamics in moderately concentrated ferrofluids. We consider a homogenous (without particle aggregates) ferrofluid consisting of identical spherical particles and employ a rigid dipole model, where the magnetic moment of a particle is fixed with respect to the particle itself. In particular, for the magnetization relaxation after the external field is instantly switched off, we show that the magnetodipolar interaction leads to the increase of the initial magnetization relaxation time. For the complex ac susceptibility χ (ω) = χ′ (ω) +i χ″ (ω) we find that this interaction leads to an overall increase of χ″ (ω) and shifts the χ″ (ω) peak towards lower frequencies. Comparing results obtained with our analytical approach (second order virial expansion) to numerical simulation data (Langevin dynamics method), we demonstrate that the employed virial expansion approximation gives a good qualitative description of the ferrofluid magnetization dynamics and provides a satisfactory quantitative agreement with numerical simulations for the dc magnetization relaxation, up to the particle volume fraction ∼10%, and for the ac susceptibility, up to 5%. © 2009 The American Physical Society.