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The Seebeck and Soret coefficients of ionically stabilized suspension of maghemite nanoparticles in dimethyl sulfoxide are experimentally studied as a function of nanoparticle volume fraction. In the presence of a temperature gradient, the charged colloidal nanoparticles experience both thermal drift due to their interactions with the solvent molecules and electric forces proportional to the internal thermoelectric field. The resulting thermodiffusion of nanoparticles is observed through Forced Rayleigh scattering, while the thermoelectric field is accessed through voltage measurements in a thermocell. Both techniques provide independent estimates of nanoparticle's entropy of transfer as high as 75 meV/K. Such a property may be used to improve the thermoelectric coefficients in liquid thermocells., Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures

The translational dynamics in a repulsive colloidal glass-former is probed by time-resolved X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy. In this dense dispersion of charge-stabilized and magnetic nanoparticles, the interaction potential can be tuned, from quasi-isotropic to anisotropic by applying an external magnetic field. Structural and dynamical anisotropies are reported on interparticle lengthscales associated with highly anisotropic cooperativity, almost two orders of magnitude larger in the field direction than in the perpendicular direction and in zero field.

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 lengthscale, 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., Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures

We present our first experimental determination of the magnetic noise of a superspinglass made of < 1 pico-liter frozen ferrofluid. The measurements were performed with a local magnetic field sensor based on Hall microprobes operated with the spinning current technique. The results obtained, though preliminary, qualitatively agree with the theoretical predictions of Fluctuation-Dissipation theorem (FDT) violation [1]., Comment: 4pages, 2 figures

Water-soluble clusters made from 7 nm inorganic nanoparticles have been investigated by small-angle neutron scattering. The internal structure factor of the clusters was derived and exhibited a universal behavior as evidenced by a correlation hole at intermediate wave-vectors. Reverse Monte-Carlo calculations were performed to adjust the data and provided an accurate description of the clusters in terms of interparticle distance and volume fraction. Additional parameters influencing the microstructure were also investigated, including the nature and thickness of the nanoparticle adlayer., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, paper published in Physical Review E

A paradigm proposed recently by Boal et al. (A.K. Boal et al., Nature 404, 746-748, 2000) deals with the possibility to use inorganic nanoparticles as building blocks for the design and fabrication of colloidal and supracolloidal assemblies. It is anticipated that these constructs could be made of different shapes, patterns and functionalities and could constitute the components of future nanodevices including sensors, actuators or nanocircuits. Here we report a protocol that allowed us to fabricate such nanoparticle aggregates. The building blocks of the constructs were anionically coated iron oxide nanocrytals (superparamagnetic, size 7 nm) and cationic-neutral block copolymers. We have shown that the electrostatic interactions between charged species can be controlled by tuning the ionic strength of the dispersion. Under appropriate conditions, the control of electrostatics resulted in the elaboration of spherical or elongated aggregates at the micrometer length scale. The elongated aggregates were found to be rod-like, with diameters of a few hundred nanometers and lengths between 1 and 50 micrometers. In addition to their remarkable stiffness, the nanostructured rods were found to reorient along with an externally applied magnetic field, in agreement with the laws of superparamagnetism., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, appeared in Advanced materials in September 2008, reference

The attractive interactions between oppositely charged species (colloids, macromolecules etc) dispersed in water are strong, and the direct mixing of solutions containing such species generally yields to a precipitation, or to a phase separation. We have recently developed means to control the electrostatically-driven attractions between nanoparticles and polymers in water, and at the same time to preserve the stability of the dispersions. We give here an account of the formation of supracolloidal aggregates obtained by co-assembly of 7 nm particles with copolymers. Nanostructured rods of length comprised between 5 and 50 microns and diameter 500 nm were investigated. By application of a magnetic field, the rods were found to reorient along with the magnetic field lines. The kinetics of reorientation was investigated using step changes of the magnetic field of amplitude 90 degrees. From the various results obtained, among which an exponential decay of the tangent of the angle made between the rod and the field, we concluded that the rods are superparamagnetic., Comment: 12 pages - 452kB 7 - figures - 1 Table will be published in Journal of Physics : Condensed Matter

In this paper we investigate the superspin glass behavior of a concentrated assembly of interacting maghemite nanoparticles and compare it to that of canonical atomic spin glass systems. ac versus temperature and frequency measurements show evidence of a superspin glass transition taking place at low temperature. In order to fully characterize the superspin glass phase, the aging behavior of both the thermo-remanent magnetization (TRM) and ac susceptibility has been investigated. It is shown that the scaling laws obeyed by superspin glasses and atomic spin glasses are essentially the same, after subtraction of a superparamagnetic contribution from the superspin glass response functions. Finally, we discuss a possible origin of this superparamagnetic contribution in terms of dilute spin glass models.

A lyotropic ferrocolloid is synthesized by mixing of a cationic ferrofluid and potassium laurate/1-decanol/water ternary solution. Conditions of existence of a nematic phase in this mixture, other mesophases, and their phase diagrams in the vicinity of the nematic one are obtained and characterized quantitatively. Inside of the nematic zone the lyotropic ferrocolloid becomes a ferronematic, i.e., a liquid crystal with remarkably strong magnetic properties. We found that the pH and the component concentrations dramatically affect the amount of magnetic particles stably suspended in a lyotropic carrier. Magnetization and magnetic susceptibility of synthesized ferronematics are measured depending on the concentration of dispersed magnetic particles., Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures

Wave resistance is the drag force associated to the emission of waves by a moving disturbance at a fluid free surface. In the case of capillary-gravity waves it undergoes a transition from zero to a finite value as the speed of the disturbance is increased. For the first time an experiment is designed in order to obtain the wave resistance as a function of speed. The effect of viscosity is explored, and a magnetic fluid is used to extend the available range of critical speeds. The threshold values are in good agreement with the proposed theory. Contrary to the theoretical model, however, the measured wave resistance reveals a non monotonic speed dependence after the threshold., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, submitted to Physical Review Letters