Reconfigurable ferromagnetic liquid droplets

Authors

Xubo Liu, Beijing University of Chemical Technology
Noah Kent, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Alejandro Ceballos, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Robert Streubel, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Yufeng Jiang, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Yu Chai, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Paul Y. Kim, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Joe Forth, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Frances Hellman, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Shaowei Shi, Beijing University of Chemical Technology
Dong Wang, Beijing University of Chemical Technology
Brett A. Helms, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Paul D. Ashby, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peter Fischer, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Thomas P. Russell, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryFollow

Date of this Version

7-19-2019

Document Type

Article

Citation

Published in Science 365, 264–267 (19 July 2019).

DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw8719

Comments

Copyright © 2019 by the Authors; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. Used by permission.

Abstract

Solid ferromagnetic materials are rigid in shape and cannot be reconfigured. Ferrofluids, although reconfigurable, are paramagnetic at room temperature and lose their magnetization when the applied magnetic field is removed. Here, we show a reversible paramagnetic-to-ferromagnetic transformation of ferrofluid droplets by the jamming of a monolayer of magnetic nanoparticles assembled at the water-oil interface. These ferromagnetic liquid droplets exhibit a finite coercivity and remanent magnetization. They can be easily reconfigured into different shapes while preserving themagnetic properties of solid ferromagnets with classic north-south dipole interactions. Their translational and rotational motions can be actuated remotely and precisely by an external magnetic field, inspiring studies on active matter, energy-dissipative assemblies, and programmable liquid constructs.

Includes supplementary text and figures; supplemental movies attached below.