Magnetic field assisted nucleation dynamics of laser induced manganese oxide nanoparticles in water

Abstract

Abstract Pulsed laser ablation at manganese (paramagnetic)–water interface led to the formation of cubic bixbyite α-Mn2O3 nano-particles. The effect of external magnetic field on to the size of the nano-particles was investigated. Nucleation modelling were carried out to validate the experimental results. To study the affect of the external magnetic field on to the nucleation dynamics, two different models were employed—model A: influence of the magnetic pressure, and model B: influence of the magnetic energy, that affects the laser-induced nucleation dynamics when an external magnetic field is applied. It was observed that the nucleation modelling using model A gives more agreeable results to the experimental observation than model B. A similar investigation was also carried out using ferromagnetic: nickel target, which shows significant influence exhibiting a decrease in nano-particle sizes using both the models. The fluid dynamical counterpart: cavitation bubbles formed at laser interaction with solid targets immersed in liquids, are also probed. Cavitation bubbles formed at the manganese–water interface seem impervious to the external magnetic field; however, for targets such as nickel, energy dispensed to ferromagnetic interactions is translated to cavitation bubbles which exhibit larger bubble radius.