Micro miniature robot has drawn enormous attention in recent years due to its broad application prospect, such as microsurgery, biological monitoring and drug delivery. Micro miniature robot can access to delicate and narrow regions, including brain, blood system or gastrointestinal tract. Soft micro miniature robot has higher freedom of shape and lower environmental constraints compared with current rigid type robots. The propulsion method of the soft micro miniature robot contains light field, chemical energy, acoustic radiation force and bioenergy. In fact, magnetic actuating is particularly promising since a magnetic force can be monitored in 3D space and also can provide the suitable force. As a critical part of the soft micro miniature robot, NdFeB fine powder has also involved in its development.
Magnetic Soft Composite Material for Soft Micro Miniature Robot
Magnetic soft composite material for soft micro miniature robot is mainly composed of soft silicone rubber Ecoflex and NdFeB fine powder. The specific shape and magnetization pattern will help robots exhibit certain propulsion performance which determines whether have application prospect or not.
About NdFeB Fine Powder
As the original selection of magnetic fine powder, ferrite is not desirable for some high magnetic performance required applications, thus researchers have to shift attention to Neodymium magnet. NdFeB fine powder for sintered Neodymium magnet is well-known for its flammability which cannot expose to air. Magnequench adopted jet-milling to obtain the fine powder with the average of 5-6 microns and achieved mass production more than a decade ago. Therefore, these fine powders have been widely served in sensor, magnetic fluid, ink, MEMS, and magnetic soft composite material for soft micro miniature robot.
