The cage elasticity and under-field structure of concentrated magnetic colloids probed by small angle X-ray scattering

Abstract

In the present study we probe the bulk modulus and the structure of concentrated magnetic fluids by small angle X-ray scattering. The electrostatically stabilized nanoparticles experience a repulsive interparticle potential modulated by dipolar magnetic interactions. On the interparticle distance length scale, we show that nanoparticles are trapped under-field in oblate cages formed by their first neighbours. We propose a theoretical model of magnetostriction for the field-induced deformation of the cage. This model captures the anisotropic features of the experimentally observed scattering pattern on the local scale in these strongly interacting colloidal dispersions.