Magneto-elastic coupling as a key to microstructural response of magnetic elastomers with flake-like particles
Alla B. Dobroserdova, M. Schümann, Dmitry Borin, Ekaterina V. Novak, Stefan Odenbach, Sofia S. Kantorovich
Abstract
Using the combination of experiment and molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate structural transformations in magnetic elastomers with NdFeB flake-like particles, caused by applied moderate magnetic fields. We explain why and how those transformations depend on whether or not the samples are initially cured by a short-time exposure to a strong field. We find that in a cured sample, a moderate magnetic field leads mainly to in-place flake rotations that are fully reversed once the applied field is switched off. In contrast, in an initially non-cured sample the flakes perform both translation and rotations under the influence of a moderate applied field that lead to the formation of chain-like structures that remain such even if the field is switched off.