Magneto-Mechanical Surfaces Design

Abstract

Magneto-mechanically active surfaces (MMAS) represent a new family of nano/micro-structured surfaces in which motion is induced by an external magnetic field. Under the name of "artificial cilia", "biomimetic cilia", "magnetic actuated patterns", "nanopillars", etc., published works in this area continue their quick growth in number. Notwithstanding their potential application in microfluidic, chemical sensors, catalytic processes and microelectronics to increase device perfomances, there is still a lot to do in the development of these materials. Improvement and optimization of the performance of these structures are essential tasks in order to fulfil their complete development. Along this article, a critical review involving the main aspects in the design of the patterned nanocomposites will be presented.

Keywords: magnetic nanoparticles; magnetic polymeric composites; magneto-mechanical; nano/micro-structuration.