Ionic liquid ferrofluid electrospray: a new propulsion for satellites

Abstract

An electrospray array consisting of an ionic liquid ferrofluid was designed and investigated. When subjected to a magnetic field, the ferrofluid forms peaks on the surface called Rosensweig instabilities. By applying a sufficiently strong electric field, electrospray can be obtained from these peaks. A reservoir consisting of concentric ring trenches was designed and constructed in order to facilitate the formation of a uniform array of ILFF peaks. It was found that the array of peaks could be made relatively uniform in shape and size. Emission measurements were performed on these arrays to determine whether uniform emission could be obtained from the array. Relatively uniform emissi