le_malin

Hi, For my ferrofluid recipe, I bought Oleic Acid (Canadawide Scientific), Fe3O4 (eBay), and Kerosene (local hardware store). Some products are still in transit, so I haven't experimented just yet... I've done quite a bit of reading on the subject; I understand the fundamentals... But none of the instructions I came across use "already made" Fe3O4 (magnetite?)... and I'm having difficulty deducing where I should pickup on the "recipe". I virtually have no background in chemistry... To me, the touchy part is effectively bonding the Fe3O4 particles with the Oleic Acid. Can I coat the Fe3O4 with Oleic Acid by simply mixing them together? Or do I have to heat Amonia, add Oleic Acid, then add the Fe3O4 and continue to heat/mix until the amonia is evaporated? Or... something else? Then, I guess it's just a matter of cooling the solution (if it was heated in the first place) and adding the Kerosene to get the ideal viscosity. From what I understand, the ratios are roughly - 5% magnetic solids (Fe3O4), 10% surfactant (Oleic Acid), and 85% carrier (Kerosene). Thank you for your input.

I've ordered Oleic Acid, Fe3o4 (used in thermite) and got Kerosene at the local hardware store, thinking I could make my own ferrofluid - the products are still in transit. But now I read your post and... yeah. I'm also having doubts. I was thinking I could just mix the iron with the oleic acid, then add the kerosene... but I think there may be some wizardry involved here (aka. science). There are no recipes that I could find which have only these basic ingredients... For me, my biggest concern is coating the iron with oleic acid - can you just stir them together? Or does the oleic acid need to be heated? Should I mix oleic acid and amonia, heat it, add the iron, let the amonia evaporate, cool the solution, then add the kerosene?... I hope someone reads this still... the post is quite old...