Ferrofluids are a colloidal suspension of magnetite in a liquid which behaves as a fluid in the absence of a magnet, and when a magnetic field it introduced, becomes magnetized thus acting as more like a solid. Moving magnets induce electric currents in coils of wire and therefore when ferrofluid is magnetised by an electromagnet and moved between opposite ends of a coil, it creates a current in the coil of wire. Mission Discovery students wanted to see how this process was affected by microgravity. Ferrofluids are used widely on Earth in electronics, speakers, and braking systems and are seeing potential applications in medical imaging and drug delivery to specific parts of the body. This work could inform the translation of these technologies to space as well as its application to microgravity pumping systems in future space missions.
The novel assembly to investigate this process, designed by students from the Department of Physics and Dr Mike Foale includes a sealed tube of ferrofluid which is manipulated in microgravity between two electromagnets. The movement of ferrofluid through a sensing coil is detected and stored on a local SD card which astronauts on the ISS will remove and return to Earth during the SpaceX CRS26 mission
