ELECTRO-OPTICS BEHAVIOURS OF Fe3O4 FERROFLUID

Arif Hidayat*, Widya Elyani, Ahmad Taufiq

Jurusan Fisika
Fakultas Matematika dan Ilmu Pengetahuan Alam
Universitas Negeri Malang
*arif.hidayat.fmipa@um.ac.id

In this paper, we report the experimental observation of electro-optic effect in a ferrofluid

comprising of Fe3O4 nanoparticles by a 1 mW He-Ne laser beam. An external electric field was
applied perpendicular to the beam. Ferrite ferrofluid was prepared by using coprecipitation-
sonochemical technique. The effect of the electric field on the optical properties of ferrofluid was
still too weak as we had expected. One possibility that can be suspected as the cause is that the
electric field applied to ferrofluid is still too weak.
Introduction
Ferrofluids are stable colloidal suspensions of sub-domain sized ferrite particles dispersed
in a liquid medium by a suitable surfactant agent. A great diversity of application has been
proposed, including micromechanical sensor [1], nondestructive defect sensors [2], tunable
optical filters [3-4], optical fiber modulator [5], cell toxicity study [6], quantification of
biomolecule agglutination [7], etc.
So far, research on the response of ferrofluid to the influence of magnetic fields has
been carried out [8]. Research on the influence of the electric field on ferrofluid has also
attracted the attention of many researchers, especially regarding the structure of ferrofluid,
manipulation of particles and cells in microfluidic devices through negative magnetophoresis [9].
Rajnak et. al. investigated the formation and aggregation patterns of ferrofluid particles under the
influence of the electric field [10]. Hardon et al Hardon et al. Showed the effect of electric fields
on changes in the electric dipole moment of ferofluid particles [11]
However, the study of the influence of the electric field on the optical properties of
ferrofluid material has not been widely carried out. Research on the effect of electro optics in
ferrofluid needs to be examined in depth to explore its potential in the field of ferrofluid-based
electric field sensors.

Research Method
Samples of ferrofluida were synthesized using a method developed by Puspitaningrum
[12]. To determine the microscopic characteristics of the structure of ferrofluid samples,
morphological tests were carried out using a scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction.
From the two characterizations, the following data were obtained: the sample has a cubic spinel
structure, the average particle size of 14 nm, and supported by XRD data with a crystal size of 10
nm which is shown in Figure 1.
 (a) (b)
Size Size SEM Size (nm)
a (Å) V (Å3) Rp Rwp χ2 Scherer
(nm) (nm)

8,3665 585,64 22,46 30,99 1,13 10,09 13,78 14,46±0,74

(c)
Figure 1 shows microscopic characteristics of the structure of ferrofluid samples.

The optical properties of ferrofluid samples were examined using Uv-Vis spectroscopy
to determine the refractive index and dielectric constant. Figure 2 shows the band gap curve and
the table for the calculation of the refractive index and dielectric constant. The energy gap ranges
between 2-2,2 eV. The difference between direct and indirect bandgap values is due to thickness
variations of morphology that depend on scattering.
 (a)
Refraction Dielectric Refraction Dielectric
Direct Band index (n) constant (00) Indirect Band index (n) constant (00)
Gap (eV) direct Direct Gap (eV) Indirect Indirect
bandgap bandgap bandgap bandgap
2,189 2.69 7,59 2,083 2.76 7,24

(b)
Figure 2. (a) The band gap curve. (b) The table of the refractive index and dielectric constant
calculated.

The effect of electro optics is examined by examining the effect of the electric field on
the intensity of laser light transmission that penetrates ferrofluid samples placed in the electric
field space. Figure 3 shows a set of electro optical experiments.

Figure 3. Set of electro optical experiments.

Figure 4. Graph of the effect of the electric field on the optical properties of ferrofluid
 The effect of the electric field on the optical properties of ferrofluid is presented in
Figure 4. The intensity of the transmission increases when the potential difference of the sample
ends is increased from 0 V to 20 V. When the voltage is continuously increased to 100 V, the
optical properties do not change.
Electric field can change optical properties of material. Under the influence of electric
field, there is forces that disturbs the position, orientation, and shapes of molecules of material.
In other word, the application of a dc electric field induce change in refractive index. In case of
anisotropic material electric field applied will affect the polarization of transmission light. [13]
In this study, the effect of the electric field on the optical properties of ferrofluid was
still too weak as we had expected. One possibility that can be suspected as the cause is that the
electric field applied to ferrofluid is still too weak, so that it cannot produce electro-optical
effects that can change the optical properties of ferrofluid.

Conclusion
The electro-optical effect has been seen in ferrofluid samples subject to electric fields, but can
still significantly change the optical properties of ferrofluid. So that further research is needed
with a higher level of electric field.

Acknowledgment
We thank the Malang State University for funding support for this research within the framework
of the 2018 PNBP Grant.

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