Fabrication of a Converter for Converting of Vibrational Energy to Electrical Energy Using Fe3O4 Ferrofluid

Electromagnetic energy converters have been used as electrical energy suppliers. The use of solid magnets in these devices, for producing of magnetic induction, has produced difficulties for the design and application of these systems in various forms and frequencies. Magnetic fluids as a substitute for solid magnets have recently been considered for the use of these devices in low frequency ranges and different designs. In this study, a simple vibrational energy converter was designed using magnetite ferrofluid. For this purpose, the nanoparticles of magnetite were synthesized by co-precipitation method and surface modified by oleic acid. The XRD, FTIR, VSM testes and SEM studies were done to investigate properties of the samples. The nano magnetite particles had the average size of 70 nm and the saturation magnetization of 41.63 emu/gr. Three types of fluid including water, kerosene and brake oil were used to make magnetite stable ferrofluid. The most stable ferrofluid was brake oil based ferrofluid. The fabricated energy converter converted mechanical vibrations to induction voltage and voltage increased with frequency of vibration and applied magnetic field.