Morphology of the CIP particles
The macroscopic morphologies of the particles are shown in Fig. 2. The CIP is bluish gray (Fig. 2a), whereas the HCIP is reddish-brown (Fig. 2b), caused by the oxidation reaction when particles contacted with the oxygen from air.34 After being coated with coupling agents, the degree of reddish-brown of particles (Fig. 2c) decreased, indicating that the coating reduced the oxidation. Not only that, the color of particles gradually deepened when the chain length of the coupling agent increased (Figs. 2d and 2e), indicating that the silane coupling agents with various chain lengths were coated on the surface of the particles.33
The SEM images of particles are shown in Fig. 3. The pure CIP is apparently spherical with a smooth surface (Fig. 3A) and the particles are scattered distributed.25 Notably, the surface of the particle becomes rough, and many nanopores appeared on the surface of the HCIP (Fig. 3B), is has been reported that which will increases the specific surface area of particles and the number of -OH functional groups, and thus which will enhance the coating effect on the particle surface.35–37 Certain coated floccules can be clearly observed on the surface of the single-layer coated particles (Fig. 3C). As the chain length of the coupling agent increased, the coated floccules shown in Fig. 3D became more coarser on the particle surface, and these particles in Fig. 3d have a tendency to aggregate with each other. In addition, more floccules showed in Fig. 3E, and the particles are entirely encased by the coatings, and these particles aggregate into larger as shown in Fig. 3e.38,39 The SEM images indicate that the silane coupling agents with different chain lengths can achieve single or double layer coating on the particles.
Figure 4 presents the TEM images of the particles, which exhibits an identified boundary between the particle and background scenery (Figure 4a and 4b).33,40 In the images of the coated particle, the black area is surrounded by a transparent gray area, which is the applied silane coupling agent.41-42 The thickness can be identified by measuring the transparent gray zone on the surface of the particles. The shell thickness of the BTES coated particle was approximately 8 nm (Figure 4c). After the BTES and TOS being coated, the shell thickness of the particle was approximately 16 nm (Figure 4d); After the BTES and DTOS being coated, the shell thickness of the particle was approximately 21 nm, as shown in Fig. 4e, which increased as the chain length of the silane coupling agent increased, and the particles of different shell thicknesses were obtained.
Coating effect of different silane coupling agents on the particles
The coating effects of the different silane coupling agents on the particles were investigated using the FTIR curves shown in Fig. 5. The peaks located at 613.32 cm-1, 1089.72 cm-1 and 1739.69 cm-1 in curve (a) and (b) indicate the existence of the Fe-O, C-O-C and C = O bonds, the peak at 3446.60 cm-1 indicates the existence of -OH bond, attributing to the attached water on the particle surface.25,32 In curve (c), the peaks located at 441.67 cm-1, 894.92 cm-1 and 995.21 cm-1 confirm the existence of the Si-O, Si-C and Si-O-Si bonds in BTES and the hydrolytic functional group (Si-OH) is dehydrated and condensed on the surface of the HCIP, indicating that the coating is adsorbed on the particles by chemical bonding.25,43–45 In curve (c), the peak located at 1465.82 cm-1 confirms the existence of C-H3 bonds, indicating that the TOS is successfully coated on the particles, and the double-layer coated particle HCIP-BTES-TOS is obtained.25 And the vibration peak of C-H3 also appears in curve (e), indicating the double-layer coated particle HCIP-BTES-DTOS is obtained. Moreover, in curves (d) and (e), a strong Si-O-Si vibration absorption peak appeared at 1033.78 cm-1, indicating that a chemical bond was formed between the first-layer coating and the second-layer coating through silanol dehydration condensation.25,46 The coating mechanism of the CIP particles is shown in Fig. 1(b), which can be confirmed by the FTIR results.
The coated mass of particle was confirmed by TGA curves (Fig. 6). Notably, The mass in curves (a) and (b) continues to increase until it reaches 500 ℃, attributing to the chemical reaction between N2 from the testing environment and the CIP particles, and the mass of curve (a) has increased to 105.66 wt.% .29 Compared with the uncoated particles, the curve of the coated particles did not show an upward trend, indicating that the coating prevented the particles from chemically reacting with the external environment.26 Due to the presence of the oxide layer, the mass of curve (b) increases slightly during the heating process, and the mass loss at 600℃ is 0.68 wt.%, corresponding to the decomposition of particles.47 With the increase in temperature, the curves (c), (d) and (e) decrease at about 100 ℃, which was owing to the decomposition of silane molecules chemically and very little water adsorbed on the particles.48–49 Compared with single-layer coated particles (in curves (c)), the mass loss of double-layer coated particles (in curves (d)) increased from 1.98 wt.% to 7.35 wt.%, indicates the formation of a double layer coating. The quality of the double-layer coating with DTOS in sample (e) is much higher than that of the double-layer coating with TOS in sample (d), which may be due to the greater number of carbon atoms on the DTOS molecule, and the effect of methoxy group on the coating is stronger than that of ethoxy group, and thus, the sample (e) has a thicker shell than sample (d). After the particles were coated the mass loss was 1.98wt.% (in curves (c)), 7.35 wt.% (in curves (d)), and 11.06 wt.% (in curves (e)), respectively, indicating that single-layer and double-layer coated particles were obtained by the coating of utilizing silane coupling agents with different chain lengths.
Table 3
The coated effects of silane coupling agents with different chain lengths on the density and magnetic properties of particles
Number
|
Samples
|
Density (g/cm3)
|
Magnetization, Ms (emu/g)
|
(a)
|
CIP
|
7.729
|
249.52
|
(b)
|
HCIP
|
7.604
|
230.59
|
(c)
|
HCIP-BTES
|
6.289
|
220.35
|
(d)
|
HCIP-BTES-TOS
|
5.298
|
198.41
|
(e)
|
HCIP-BTES-DTOS
|
5.036
|
195.71
|
Density and magnetic properties of the particles
Table 3 lists the density and saturation magnetization of the particles. After being etched, the density of the particles decreased from 7.729 g/cm3 to 7.604 g/cm3, due to the formation of numerous porous structures on the particle surfaces, the etching slightly changed the particle density. When BTES was coated, the density of the single-layer coated particles (HCIP-BTES) decreased to 6.289 g/cm3, the density of double-layer coated particles (HCIP-BTES-TOS) decreased to 5.298 g/cm3, and the density of double-layer coated particles with longer carbon chains (HCIP-BTES-DTOS) further decreased to 5.036 g/cm3. This suggests that HCl etching, single-layer or double-layer coating, and silane coupling agent chain length can further affect the particle density.
Figure 7 presents the magnetization curves of particles. By comparing curves (a) and (b), once the particles were etched, Ms decreased from 249.52 emu/g to 230.59 emu/g, the saturation value was slightly different, due to the formation of oxidation layer on the surface of the HCIP.50 The saturation magnetization of the particles decreased from 249.52 emu/g to 195.71 emu/g with the coating chain length increases, as showed in Table 3. The saturation magnetization of particles is consistent with the decrease of particle density, attributing to non-magnetic molecule increase the distance between magnetic cores and reduce the interaction between particles.19,50–52
The rheological properties of MRF
Figure 8(a) presents the correlation between shear rate and viscosity of MRF under various magnetic field strengths. Without a magnetic field, the viscosity of the MRF formed by the pure CIP significantly decreases with an increase in the shear rate, this is a typical non-Newtonian fluid, the reason for this phenomenon is the agglomeration and sedimentation of particles in MRF.
The viscosity of the MRF formed by the coated particles gently decreases with an increase in the shear rate, compared to that of the MRF composed of pure CIP, which behaves more like a Newtonian fluid. The coated silane coupling agent is conducive for improving the compatibility between the particles and the carrier medium, meanwhile the forming of a three-dimensional network structure and which prevents the sedimentation of the particles, thus the MRF prepared by the coating particles is more similar to Newtonian fluids. In addition, the viscosity of the MRF increases slightly with an increase in the coating chain length at the same shear rate, this is due to the formation of three-dimensional network structure of more complicated.53 Under a magnetic field, the viscosity of the MRF decreases with an increase in the shear rate, demonstrating of a non-Newtonian fluids.32,54–56
Under a magnetic field, the shear stress of all the MRFs in Fig. 8(b) increases by two to three orders of magnitude compared to that without a field, this is due to the formation of chain structure of magnetic particles along the direction of magnetic field. Additionally, the MRF prepared by pure CIP has a higher shear stress than that of the sample prepared by the coated particles, and the stress of MRF decreases with the increase of coating thickness. This is owing to that the magnetic saturation of the particles decreased by the coating of silane coupling agent, which is consistent with the VSM curve equation.24
Dispersion stability of the MRF
In Fig. 9, photos (I), (II), and (III) of the MRF were captured after 1, 30, and 100 days of static settlement. In the photographs, solid residue adhered to the tube above the green line becomes visible subsequent to the decline of the MRF, attributing to the release of air that entered during mechanical agitation. The region between the green line and the red line illustrates the supernatant following the settlement of the MRF. After only 1 d of sedimentation, obvious stratification was observed in sample (a) and (b), due to the density difference between the particles and the carrier medium, and the limited reduction in particle density of the short-chain silane coupling agent coating in sample (b). After 30 d of sedimentation, a large number of particles in sample (a) and (b) have settled at the bottom of the tube, and no obvious stratifications were in sample (c) and (d). After 100 d of sedimentation, the sedimentation percentage of sample (c) was higher than that of sample (d), this is due to the better dispersion stability of long-chain than short-chain silane coupling agents. The sedimentation percentage of the MRF is expressed as follows57:
where c is the sedimentation percentage, a is the volume of the supernatant, and b is the volume of the underlying magnetic particles.
The variation of sedimentation rate over time is shown in Fig. 9(IV). The final sedimentation percentage of sample (a) was 58% and tended to stabilize on the 30th day. The sedimentation percentage of sample (b) was 52% after 100 days of sedimentation, indicating that the single-layer coating on the particles had a small effect on the dispersion stability of the MRF.
Table 4
The density and migration rate of particles after 7 d of sedimentation
Samples
|
Density (g/cm3)
|
Peak thickness [mm]
|
Experimental sedimentation rate [mm h-1]
|
CIP
|
7.729
|
22.4
|
0.149
|
HCIP-BTES
|
5.489
|
3.7
|
0.019
|
HCIP-BTES-TOS
|
5.298
|
2.4
|
0.017
|
HCIP-BTES-DTOS
|
5.036
|
0
|
0
|
The sedimentation percentage of sample (c) and (d) were 7% and 3.5% after 100 d of sedimentation, respectively, compared with the single coated sample (b), the sedimentation stability of the double coated sample was improved by about 94%, and the dispersion stability of sample d with longer chain coated particles was better as the coating chain length increased. Plachy et al. indicated that this is owing to the reduction in the density difference between the particles and the carrier medium.33 In addition, Lopez-Lopez et al. reported that the coating of particles enhanced the spatial repulsion and prevented irreversible agglomeration between the particles, thus enhancing the dispersion stability of the MRF.58
Figure 10 shows the light intensity of four MRFs as measured by Turbiscan-Lab. The measurement probe is perpendicular to the direction of the sample cell, the MRFs are scan at a height of 0–40 mm, the data of transmission (T) and backscattering (BS) are obtained every 40 µm. As shown in Fig. 10, the bottom of the sample pool was 0 mm on the left side of the x-axis, and the top of the sample pool was 40 mm on the right side. The change in line color from blue to red represents the change in test time from 0 to 7 days. In the previous reports, the ΔBS was used to study the dispersion system with high particle concentration, so as to obtain the instability information of the dispersion system and the change of the spectrum with significant reduction indicates the clarification of the sample.59
Figure 11 presents the migration curves of the peak thicknesses of the particles. Combine to Fig. 10, The peak thickness of particles in sample (a) was 22.4 mm, and ΔBS changed from a negative peak to a positive peak at 18 mm in Fig. 10, indicating that the sedimentation position of the sample was at 18 mm of the sample height. he peak thickness of particles in sample (b) was 3.7 mm, and ΔBS showed a steep peak drop at 36 mm, indicating the sedimentation position of the sample. The particle sedimentation value after single-layer coated particles (in sample b) is smaller than that of pure CIP (in sample a), indicating that the coating has a positive effect on the dispersion stability of MRF. Notably, ΔBS in sample (b) showed an opposite direction compared to other samples owing to the fact that the supernatant presented yellowish brown (as shown in sample b in Fig. 9), the colored supernatant increased the refractive index of the light wave. Therefore, the change of its ΔBS also indicates a clear sedimentation of particles at this position. The peak thickness of particles in sample (c) was 2.4 mm, and the negative peak of ΔBS gradually weakens at 37 mm, it indicates that the dispersion stability of sample (c) with double-layer coated particles is higher than that sample (b) with single-layer coated particles. The peak thickness of particles in sample (d) was 0 mm, and the ΔBS in the spectrogram did not change greatly, the results show that the dispersion stability of the sample (d) with long alkyl chains of double-layer coated particles is better than that of the sample (c) with short chains of double-layer coated particles.
Table 4 presents the peak thickness and sedimentation rate of MRFs after seven days. According to Table 4, the maximum sedimentation rate of the MRF prepared with pure CI particles was 0.149 mm/h, and the sedimentation rates of the MRFs gradually decreased to 0.019 mm/h, 0.017 mm/h and 0 mm/h as the coating chain length on the particles increased. The dispersion stability of the MRF can be significantly improved, which is primarily attributed to the following factors: with larger specific surface area, more -OH functional groups appear on porous CIP surfaces etched by HCl, the existence of the coating reduces the density difference between the particles and carrier medium, increases the compatibility between particles and the base load fluid, and forms a three-dimensional network structure in the carrier medium to prevent the agglomeration of particles.19,27,33,53,58