Magnetization property is a critical factor for magnetorheological fluids (MRFs) to achieve the liquid-solid
transition. The main focus of this study is on exploring the influence factors on magnetization properties of
MRFs. In this paper, a theoretical analysis is performed to discuss the magnetization characteristics of MRFs firstly. Then, a method for the preparation of carbonyl iron-based MRFs is illustrated and five MRFs samples with various material parameters are prepared. It is succeeded by a series of experiments on testing the hysteresis loop and the magnetization curve of each sample and the influence factors are compared and analyzed. Experimental results indicate that there is basically no hysteresis phenomenon on MRFs which exhibits superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature. A surfactant coating on magnetic particles can slightly improve the MRFs magnetization. Additionally, the magnetic susceptibility and the saturation magnetization both increase with the particle concentration, whereas the influence of particle diameter is relatively very small. Moreover, as the temperature increases, the magnetization decreases and the declining rate accelerates gradually.