From Faraday to Ferrofluid: Colloids and Nanomaterials at the Royal Institution

The Royal Institution presents a exploration of colloids and nanomaterials from the 1850s to modern nanotechnology. Beginning with Faraday’s work on nanoparticles in colloids and moving through deflagration to make gold leaf transparent, the video then showcases ferrofluid, its magnetic behavior, and potential medical uses. Along the way, it explains the Faraday Tyndall effect, the stability of colloidal suspensions, and how these tiny particles underpin everyday products and future therapies. The talk connects historical experiments to contemporary research happening inside the RI, illustrating how manipulating matter at the nanoscale can change science and medicine.

Historical Roots in a Royal Institution Setting

The video situates nanoscience within the Royal Institution, opening with Richard Feynman's 1959 talk titled There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom. It frames the talk as a milestone that sparked interest in nanoscience and nanotechnology, while recognizing that nanoscopic ideas predate it by more than a century through Michael Faraday’s colloid research at the RI. Faraday’s experiments involved creating ultrathin gold slides by a chemical process called deflagration, washing gold films with sulfuric acid to produce ruby colored liquids and nanoparticles that remain suspended rather than settle out. This preserved collection foreshadows modern nanoparticle suspensions and their optical properties.

Faraday’s Colloids and the Nanoparticle Concept

The narrative explains what colloids are, defining them as suspensions where particles are between 1 and 1000 nanometers in diameter. It highlights Faraday’s observation that light scattering by larger insoluble particles makes colloids visible when a laser passes through the liquid. The segment links colloids to practical applications, noting that many everyday products rely on colloidal forms, and it introduces the Faraday and Tyndall scattering phenomenon that explains why the sky is blue and how light interacts with colloids in the air and liquids.

Optical Stability and an Everlasting Collection

The RI hosts a collection of Faraday’s original colloids, including 15 solutions, of which only six remain optically stable after more than 170 years. The talk notes that the precise reason some particles stay colloidal is not fully documented in Faraday’s notebooks, yet the fundamental questions about stability and particle size continue to motivate nanoscience today.

From Colloids to Modern Nanoscience

The video links these historical observations to current science and everyday uses such as toothpaste, dairy products, and medicines, all of which utilize colloidal forms to improve texture, delivery, and efficacy. It also touches on the Tyndall effect as a classic demonstration of light scattering in colloidal systems, cementing the connection between early experiments and present-day nanomaterials research.

Ferrofluid and Magnetic Colloids in the RI Prep Room

The narrative transitions to the prep room where ferrofluid, a magnetic liquid composed of iron nanoparticles in a carrier liquid, is shown. The process is credited to NASA and the 1950s era of space technology, illustrating how magnetic fluids behave under external fields and evolve into striking shapes like spikes as magnetic field lines pull the iron particles outward. An investigator uses a large electromagnet to generate the field that reveals the ferrofluid’s dynamic response, drawing a direct line from historical colloids to contemporary materials with advanced control properties.

Applications and the Road Ahead

The talk closes by connecting colloids to cutting edge research such as utilizing iron oxide nanoparticles to target cancerous tissue through localized heating. It emphasizes that although many colloidal systems have been understood for decades, there is still much to learn about their properties and applications. The RI frames colloids as ubiquitous in daily life and as a promising platform for future medical therapies, energy storage, and materials science breakthroughs, inviting viewers to see nanoscience as both a historical curiosity and a powerful modern technology.