3 ms·
The article mentions "Because ferrofluid adheres well to glass, special treatments were required on the glass" but doesn't go into details
by nerfhammer 5y ago
The article mentions "Because ferrofluid adheres well to glass, special treatments were required on the glass" but doesn't go into details
- fuzzfactor 5y agoCould be treated with something like Repelcote: https://uk.vwr.com/store/product/2994602/repelcote-vs-water-repellent https://uk.vwr.com/store/product/2994602/repelcote-vs-water-... which coats the glass with a layer of silicone polymer. Not entirely unlike some automotive silicone "waxes" which repel hydrous materials. Or treatment of the glassware with the much more hazardous dimethyldichlorosilane (DMCS), which actually reacts strongly with the the glass surface at the molecular "sticky points" (which otherwise cause water to wet clean untreated glass and form a H2O film rather than bead up). The DMCS is pretty rough and you need to handle it under a hood since it can give off more "smoke" consisting of pure HCL vapor sometimes when you open the bottle, compared to opening concentrated hydrochloric acid. And it eats through the bottle's plastic closure every few years, so it's one of the ones that you need to keep an eye on and replace the cap as needed. But you get some pretty slick glassware.