Dynamics of magnetic nanoparticles in viscoelastic media

We compare different models for the description of the complex susceptibility of magnetic nanoparticles in an aqueous gelatin solution representing a model system for a Voigt-Kelvin scheme. The analysis of susceptibility spectra with the numerical model by Raikher et al. [7] is compared with the analysis applying a phenomenological, modified Debye model. The fit of the models to the measured data allows one to extract the viscoelastic parameter dynamic viscosity η and shear modulus G. The experimental data were recorded on single-core thermally blocked CoFe2O4 nanoparticles in an aqueous solution with 2.5 wt% gelatin. Whereas the dynamic viscosities obtained by fitting the model - extended by distributions of hydrodynamic diameters and viscosities - agree very well, the derived values for the shear modulus show the same temporal behavior during the gelation process, but vary approximately by a factor of two. To verify the values for viscosity and shear modulus obtained from nanorheology, macrorheological measurements are in progress.