Magnetic nanofluids, ferrofluids, are a special category of smart nanomaterials, consisting of stable dispersion of magnetic nanoparticles in different fluids. In this study, magnetic nanoparticles of hematite, α-Fe2O3, were prepared by solvothermal method using Fe(NO3)3 as a starting material. The nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electronic microscope (TEM). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research on the rheological properties of nanofluids of α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles and glycerol. The experimental results showed that the viscosity of α-Fe2O3-glycerol nanofluids increases with increasing the particle volume fraction and decreases with increasing temperature. Our results clearly showed that the α-Fe2O3-glycerol nanofluids are non-Newtonian shear-thinning and their shear viscosity depends strongly on temperature. The experimental data were compared with some theoretical models. The measured values of the effective viscosity of nanofluids are underestimated by the theoretical models.

Keywords