Polydimethylsiloxane films doped with NdFeB powder: magnetic characterization and potential applications in biomedical engineering and microrobotics

This work reports the fabrication, magnetic characterization and controlled navigation of film-shaped microrobots consisting of a polydimethylsiloxane-NdFeB powder composite material. The fabrication process relies on spin-coating deposition, powder orientation and permanent magnetization. Films with different powder concentrations (10 %, 30 %, 50 % and 70 % w/w) were fabricated and characterized in terms of magnetic properties and magnetic navigation performances (by exploiting an electromagnet-based platform). Standardized data are provided, thus enabling the exploitation of these composite materials in a wide range of applications, from MEMS/microrobot development to biomedical systems. Finally, the possibility to microfabricate free-standing polymeric structures and the biocompatibility of the proposed composite materials is demonstrated.