From Faraday to Ferrofluid: Nanoparticles, Colloids and Nanoscience at the Royal Institution

Short Summary

Explore how the Royal Institution connects early nanoscience roots to today’s cutting edge research. The video recounts Michael Faraday’s colloid work and how gold nanoparticles emerged as byproducts of making thinner slides, explains how light scattering reveals colloids through the Tyndall effect, and showcases the ferrofluid demonstration driven by magnetic fields. It then surveys current RI research that uses iron oxide nanoparticles to target tumours, highlighting the continuing relevance of colloids in medicine, imaging, and materials science. This concise guide ties historical experiments to modern nanoscience and clinical applications, illustrating the enduring importance of nanoscale phenomena in everyday life and future technology.

Overview

The video from the Royal Institution provides a historical and contemporary tour of colloids and nanoscience, tracing a path from 19th century experiments to current biomedical research. It begins with the early work of Michael Faraday on nanoparticles, moves through the physics of light scattering in colloids, and culminates in modern efforts to harness nanoscale iron oxide particles for cancer therapy. The narrative emphasizes how tiny particles behave differently at the nanoscale, how these behaviors influence everyday products, and how they can be used to enhance medical treatments.

Historical Roots in Colloids

Faraday’s 1850s experiments used gold slides and chemical processes to produce transparent gold leaf. While his aim was to create thinner slides, the resulting liquid byproducts contained nanoparticles that remained suspended for long periods. The RI displays 15 such colloidal solutions that Faraday prepared, with only a fraction remaining optically stable after more than a century and a half. The talk clarifies the distinction between colloids and simple solutions, noting that colloidal particles range from 1 to 1000 nanometers in diameter and are responsible for light scattering that makes the particles visible when illuminated.

Colloids, Light and Everyday Applications

The science of colloids touches everyday life, from toothpaste thickening to the bioavailability of medicines and the blue color of the sky produced by Rayleigh and Tyndall scattering. The video emphasizes Faraday’s observation of scattering as a mechanism that makes larger colloidal particles visible while smaller transparent media do not scatter light in the same way. By tying these phenomena to real-world uses, the talk shows how foundational colloid science is to both consumer products and diagnostic techniques.

Ferrofluid Demonstration and Magnetic Fields

In the RI prep room segment, viewers meet ferrofluid, a magnetic liquid composed of iron-containing nanoparticles dispersed in a carrier liquid. An electromagnetic coil generates a magnetic field that causes ferrofluid to form spikes along field lines, illustrating self-organization of colloids in a magnetic environment. This demonstration links to the early colloids discussed earlier and highlights how nanoscale particles respond to external fields to create complex, energy-favorable structures.

From Historical Curiosity to Cancer Research

The video connects 170 years of colloid science to current biomedical research, including work on heating iron oxide nanoparticles to target tumors. The overarching theme is that colloids and nanomaterials offer powerful tools for imaging, therapy, and precise drug delivery, with ongoing investigations at the RI exploring the full potential of nanoscale phenomena in medicine and materials science.