encipher
Harmless
Posts: 38
Registered: 15-12-2006
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Polar Coating
Hi,
I have a vial that contains ferrofluid suspended in a kerosene solution. I want to seal the vial and perhaps give it to a friend of mine to 'play
with'. The problem arises when the vial is moved or shaken, or a magnet is brought close. It becomes coated with the ferrofluid (black) and then
nothing on the inside is visible, it sticks to the inside of the vial, which is glass. Is there any coating I can use to coat the inside of the vial
with such that all the kerosene based ferrofluid will not stick to the sides of the vial?
Thanks.
|
|
|
12AX7
Post Harlot
Posts: 4803
Registered: 8-3-2005
Location: oscillating
Member Is Offline
Mood: informative
|
|
Teflon?
Wait, that doesn't stick to a damned thing.
Ooh, silicone rubber?
|
|
|
encipher
Harmless
Posts: 38
Registered: 15-12-2006
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
It should be a clear coating, otherwise it would beat the whole purpose.
|
|
|
Ozone
International Hazard
Posts: 1269
Registered: 28-7-2005
Location: Good Olde USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Integrated
|
|
Hmm.
The surface of non-silanized glass is polar, specifically from the silanol (Si-OH <--> Si-O-) groups. It appears that either your glass is
treated or, more likely, you are seeing a by-product of the fact that nano particles are quite "sticky". I am not sure how to passivate a polar
surface vs. "nano-sticky" effects. I'll poke around a bit and get back to you (I know sonication is frequently employed to keep the particles from
aggregating).
Cheers,
O3
-Anyone who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
--Albert Einstein
|
|
|
neutrino
International Hazard
Posts: 1583
Registered: 20-8-2004
Location: USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: oscillating
|
|
Soaking glass in a strongly basic solution will make the surface hydrophilic by changing its composition from Si - O - Si to Si - OH. I don't know how
much that would help here, though.
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xpblue/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
