Fe2O3(Co) + (CH3)2CO = Fe2O3 (and fun)!
Magnetic ferrofluid is expensive, so I decided to make my own.
Heineken mini-keg: cut the top off using a lathe; put unspooled audio tapes, unspooled VHS tapes and acetone in it; covered with foil. This is now a ferrofluid delaminator.
Iron particles sloughed off of cassette tapes via acetone bath. A simple ferrofluid showing the spikes of the magnet below. Without the magnet the particles disperse into the acetone and just sort of tint the liquid.
Place a strong magnet at the outside bottom of the keg. Gravity and occasional shaking will send the nano particles of iron to the bottom.
Every day I'd stir the tape spaghetti before and after work. I did this quickly because acetone fumes are highly inflammable and headache inducing. I kept this project outside the house!
A powerful magnet is a must. I use 1" rare-earth neodymium magnets which are actually quite dangerous. Hold one in your hand and any piece of metal can fly right into/through your flesh! These chrome looking magnets can also shatter if allowed to slam into each other. Read the reviews on Amazon about them: they're not lying about blood blisters, stitches and broken fingers.
I once stuck a 1" cube rare-earth magnet on my refrigerator--and by "stuck" I mean I had to get a pair of pliers to take it off.
This is a 1" cube rate-earth magnet. It is sinking into my bed. Not because it's heavy, it is, but because it's trying to burrow through my mattress to get to the steel support springs! It also started making my digital camera glitch so I couldn't get too close to it: notice how the sheet is a warm color but around the magnet it's greyed-out? Supposedly strong magnets cannot harm digital cameras--but something sure sucked the color right out of the center of this photo, LOL.
What's cool is that if you get a really strong magnet and some regular, non-nano sized iron fillings in mineral oil you can get the same effect!
What you are seeing is the actual shape of the magnetic field.
An easier way to see it, but in two dimensions not three is to buy a cheap piece of magnetic field viewing film which is just plastic sheets with oil and iron particles sandwiched in between.
