More recently, scientists have been working on the possibility of using ferromagnetic fluids to literally magnetize the oil. In the BBC video, magnetic granules are used to make the oil magnetic (or, more precisely, the granules soak up the oil in their inner cavities, retaining their magnetism). This project concentrates on the first two steps: making the oil magnetic and separating the magnetized oil from the water. The last step is to separate the magnetic material from the oil.įlow chart visualizing the idea of separating oil (spills) from water using magnets by first making the oil magnetic. The third step involves using a strong magnet to separate the magnetic oil from the water to produce Clean water and magnetic oil. ![]() The next step is to make the oil magnetic. The first step of the flow chart is identifying a layer of oil on water. The simplified flow chart outlines the steps necessary to fulfill an idea of using magnets to separate water and oil. Different types of oil or water are frequently used as carrier fluids. The ingredient list of ferrofluids is surprisingly short, as shown in Figure 2: a liquid (referred to as the carrier fluid), ferromagnetic nanoparticles, and a surfactant or soap-like substance to keep the nanoparticles from clumping together. Until recently, there was no way to create a fluid that had magnetic properties. What is so unique about that? Have you ever put iron filings in oil or water? Did they float, sink, or stay suspended? They sink, eventually. One interesting aspect of these magnetic nanoparticles is their ability to stay suspended in liquids, creating a ferromagnetic fluid or ferrofluid. Scientists have tested this hypothesis and have demonstrated they can create particles a couple of nanometers long that exhibit magnetic properties. Would there be an overlap? Do magnets on the scale of a few nanometers exist? This Venn diagram shows nanoparticles (substances on the scale of a few nanometers) on the left and magnetic materials on the right. Now, what if we brought magnetism and nanoscience together, as proposed in Figure 1? Would magnetic material still exert magnetic properties if we reduced it to nanoparticles? If so, what other characteristics would these nanoparticles have? Watch the introductory video listed in the Bibliography to get a little more familiar with the "nanoworld". Quite different from our experience with water, right? Are insects a couple of nanometers long? No! But some are equipped with nanoscale tools giving them extraordinary capacities. Imagine being a tiny insect - a common liquid like water might seem thick and gooey to you, and you might very well be able to walk over it. They differ in surprising ways from their larger-scale forms, making it hard for most of us to imagine - let alone understand - how things work at the nanoscale. Nano-sized substances are about 50,000 to 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. A nanometer is 1 billionth (10 -9 ) of a meter long. Nanoscience, or the study of phenomena only a couple of nanometers small, is a more recent addition to the world of science fields. ![]() The ability of magnets to exert a force (a pull or push) at a distance is fascinating and even mind-boggling. Magnetism, or the study of physical forces accompanying magnets, has intrigued people for ages. Could a novel idea combining nanotechnology and magnetism come to the rescue? Billions of dollars are spent on cleanup operations, which do not always completely remove the oil from the environment. Oil spills at sea are a serious hazard, causing enormous ecological damage.
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