Ferrofluids (FFs) are stable colloidal systems consisting of single-domain magnetic particles with a diameter of approximately 10 nm coated with surfactants and dispersed in a carrier liquid. By applying an external magnetic field, these fluids can be confined, positioned, shaped and, controlled at desired places. The load capacity of a lubricant film of FF can also be increased with an appropriate magnetic field. In this paper, Fe 3 O 4 -based FFs with different saturation magnetizations (M s ) were prepared by the co-precipitation technique. The tribological experiments of FFs under different magnets distributions were conducted on a ring-on-cylinder tribometer. The results show that the magnetic field intensity distributions on the rubbing surface have a significant influence on the tribological properties of FFs. The experimental results also indicate that FFs have a good friction-reduction performance in the presence of an external magnetic field compared with the carrier liquid and that its lifetime of friction can be greatly improved.
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