Novel Applications of Magnetically Controllable Fluids in Energy Harvesting, Sensing, and Thermal Applications

Magnetic Fluid (MF) has shown tremendous potential applications in various fields due to its sensation and actuation properties. MFs are colloidal dispersion of nanomagnetic particles having a striking feature of being controlled by external magnetic fields. It has been deliberated for decades in an ever-growing number of prospective areas that capitalize on their response to externally applied magnetic fields. In the last decades, MFs have gained momentum with novel application developments in energy harvesting, sensing, thermal systems, environmental remedies and biomedical applications. In this chapter, we describe the recent advancements in the emerging applications of MFs, including applications in energy harvesting (based on the self-levitation, thermo-magnetic effects and MFs motions such as vibration, sloshing), sensing (temperature, magnetic field and inclination/tilt) and thermal applications (cooling and thermal energy storage and conversion). These novel developments have the potential to replace the existing systems as they possess greater performance and improved efficiencies compared to the current systems.