Magnetodeformation effects and the swelling of ferrogels in a uniform magnetic field

Magnetic field sensitive gels (ferrogels or magnetoelastic gels) are three-dimensional cross-linked networks of flexible polymers swollen by ferrofluids or magnetic fluids. We have studied the response of magnetic field sensitive polymer gels to an external magnetic field. Two phenomena were investigated in detail: deformation and swelling under a uniform magnetic field. Gel spheres containing magnetic particles distributed randomly in the gel matrix as well as pearl chain aggregates chemically fixed in the network were exposed to a static homogeneous magnetic field. It was found that the spatial distribution of the magnetic particles plays an essential role in the magnetodeformation effect. A weak effect was observed for gels containing randomly distributed magnetic particles. In response to the magnetic field induction, these gel spheres elongated along the field lines and were compressed in the perpendicular direction. No magnetodeformation was observed for gels containing aligned particles in the polymer matrix. The influence of an external magnetic field on the equilibrium swelling degree was also the subject of this study. Using thermodynamic arguments it was shown that a uniform external field may result in deswelling of the ferrogels at high field intensities.