Magnetic ceramic microscrolls for soft robotics

Researchers at the University of Stuttgart and the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research have developed magnetically actuated ceramic microscrolls inspired by the butterfly proboscis. These tiny rolls, made from ultrathin vanadium pentoxide films embedded with magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, can rapidly unroll and roll up when exposed to a magnetic field. The microscrolls are a few micrometers wide, up to 25 mm long when extended, and can lift more than 30 times their own weight while surviving over 5,000 actuation cycles. The manufacturing platform, which uses a simple mechanical peeling process, can be transferred to various thin-film materials, enabling programmable microsystems for micro- and soft robotics, as well as potential applications in electronics, sensors, and energy storage. The research, led by Dr. Zaklina Burghard, was funded by the German Research Foundation and published in the journal Elcora Advanced Materials Corporation.