Events

Controllable Magnetic Nanofluids and Their Applications

Lecture / Panel
 
For NYU Community

Speaker: Shahriar Khushrushahi

Host Faculty: Professor Nirod Das

Abstract

Nanoparticles in a colloidal suspension do not fall out of solution due to two reasons. Their small size (≈10 nm) allows them to be easily dispersed by Brownian motion, counteracting gravity, and their surfactant layer (1-2 nm) prevents them from agglomerating. If the nanoparticles are magnetic, the resulting magnetic nanofluid exhibits a rich set of behavior that can be externally controlled by magnetic fields. The non-invasive nature of magnetic fields makes magnetic nanofluids ideal for several application areas, particularly in developing novel drug delivery devices. We also show that by using an oleophilic (oil-loving) surfactant layer, magnetic nanoparticles can also be used for energy and environmental applications such as cleaning and recovering oil from oil spills. Other interesting physical properties of magnetic nanofluids and their novel applications will also be presented.

About the Speaker

Dr. Shahriar Khushrushahi received his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2010, conducting research in the Laboratory of Electromagnetics and Electronics Systems (LEES). He also obtained his M.S. from MIT (2006) and his B.S. from Georgia Institute of Technology (2003), both in electrical engineering. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE) at MIT. His research interests include electromagnetics, ferrohydrodynamics, and magnetic nanofluid applications. His recent work has developed a novel magnetic separation system for cleaning up oil spills using magnetic nanofluids and permanent magnets. He recently received the Young Scientist Award at the 13th International Conference on Magnetic Fluids, and his oil spill recovery work has been showcased on CNN and the Discovery Channel.