Simulation of magneto-mechanical response of ferrogel samples with various polymer structure

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ABSTRACT

Following the coarse-grained molecular dynamics approach, we propose a model of a small ferrogel sample (containing up to 1000 magnetic nanoparticles), in which the polymer matrix is presented in the form of a quasi-regular mesh of spring-beads chains and the filler particles are located at the mesh nodes. The state of the sample in the absence of an external field and in the process of quasi-static magnetization is considered for two types of mesh topology (simple cubic and diamond-like), different values of the filler concentration, the strength of dipole interaction, and the energy of magnetic anisotropy. Simulation shows that the use of a softer matrix with a diamond-like structure increases the magneto-mechanical response of the ferrogel. The presence of magnetic anisotropy leads to effective hardening of the ferrogel and, thus, prevents particle clustering and sample magnetization. It was also found that the anisotropy energy determines the type of field-induced changes in the sample volume – this aspect of material behavior is important for the use of ferrogels in controlled delivery and/or release of drugs.

KEYWORDS:

• Magnetic composite
• ferrogel
• coarse-grained molecular dynamics
• magnetic nanoparticles

Acknowledgments

The simulation was performed using Triton supercomputer of ICMM UB RAS. The results were obtained within the framework of state tasks; state registration numbers of the topics are AAAA-A19-119021490136-7 and AAAAA20-120020690030-5. M.B. acknowledges the JINR-RO Grants 367/11.05.2021 items 22 and 23.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations, Russia [AAAA-A19-119021490136-7,AAAAA20-120020690030-5]; Ministerul Cercetării şi Inovării, Romania [JINR-RO Grants 367/11.05.2021 items 22 and 23].