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Author: Subject: Ferrofluid
AJKOER
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[*] posted on 27-2-2012 at 17:46


Oxalic acid dihydrate is marketed as a rust remover for use in the home. Sold in hardware stores and online also as a wood bleach.

Give it a try, as you can always find other uses for H2C2O4 as many of its salts are conveniently insoluble.

To be honest, have not used it to dissolve Fe2O3 and don't quite understand have the yellow insoluble FeC2O4 is easier to remove.
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Mixell
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[*] posted on 27-2-2012 at 18:17


The oxalate anion acts as a very good ligand for the Fe3+ (and may be 2+ too) cation, it binds to the cation and makes it stay in the solution as Fe(C2O4)3 3-.
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franklyn
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[*] posted on 24-4-2012 at 21:11
How to make Ferrofluid


www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlQw9dfexBQ
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MrHomeScientist
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[*] posted on 25-4-2012 at 10:36


Thanks for the bump, franklyn!

As you can see, my ferrofluid was also non-spiking and acted just like the OP's. I'd like to retry this at some point, and I'll take into consideration the suggestions used here. I suspect the oleic acid was my problem as well.
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blogfast25
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[*] posted on 25-4-2012 at 13:10


Quote: Originally posted by AJKOER  

To be honest, have not used it to dissolve Fe2O3 and don't quite understand have the yellow insoluble FeC2O4 is easier to remove.


With excess oxalic acid ferric ions from the stable and highly soluble trisoxalotoferrate complex: Fe(Ox)<sub>3</sub><sup>3-</sup>. Slightly surprisingly it's green and a bit fluorescent too. Needs acid conditions because alkalinity destroys it because Fe(OH)3 is more insoluble than the complex is stable. There's a nice synth of K3Fe(Ox)3 on this board somewhere.




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uzaymaymunu
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[*] posted on 3-5-2012 at 16:00


Finally spiking. But it's not good quality. Here is the video and picture:
http://uzaymaymunu.blogspot.com/2012/04/ferromanyetik-akskan...
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Oggas
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[*] posted on 17-5-2012 at 05:10


I might have missed something while reading the thread, but i do not understand what the oxalic acid is for, is it supose to be used as a surfacant in place of the oxalic acid?

Also, does anyone know a good source for oleic acid or something that could be used to replace it since i had not had any luck acquiring it so far.

Thanks.
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blogfast25
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[*] posted on 17-5-2012 at 09:53


Olive oil. Olive oil is essentially the triglyceride of oleic acid.

Saponify the oil with NaOH or KOH (loads of information on quantities to use on various DIY soap sites). Now you have the crude salt (soap) of oleic acid.

Hydrolyse this with a sufficient quantity of a dilute solution of a strong acid. The oleic acid separates out (it's not water soluble). Wash and dry and you've got crude oleic acid.

[Edited on 17-5-2012 by blogfast25]




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elementcollector1
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[*] posted on 23-6-2015 at 15:18


Will magnetite powder from a pottery store work to make ferrofluid? I don't see why it shouldn't, but I don't quite know the particle size.



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uzaymaymunu
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[*] posted on 23-6-2015 at 15:31


This is useful.

Attachment: Charles_Prep.pdf (283kB)
This file has been downloaded 516 times





uzaymaymunu.blogspot.com
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[*] posted on 23-6-2015 at 16:17


Quote: Originally posted by elementcollector1  
Will magnetite powder from a pottery store work to make ferrofluid? I don't see why it shouldn't, but I don't quite know the particle size.

Almost certainly not. I think the best result you could hope for there is a fluid that weakly responded to magnetic fields, but certainly not something that formed spikes.
When making ferrofluid the particle size is *very* important. The stuff from the pottery store would just have been ground up, or ball milled if you are lucky. I understand the easiest way to get a small particle size is to precipitate the iron oxide out (See MrHomeScientist's video). I have also heard that some people have had success by using the particles on magnetic tapes, so if you have a bunch of those you might want to look into it.
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[*] posted on 29-11-2015 at 04:54


I've been looking at ferrofluids this week, and I'm ready to blow a gasket over the complete lack of detail in any procedure available online. Some lists quantities of FeCL2/Cl3-solution without listing concentrations, most don't even bother listing that. For fucks sake, why hasn't anyone made a procedure that produces spiking fluids with some repeatability?





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