Biomimetic soft magnetic cilia array actuator for rapid transport of solid microspheres

Abstract Developing flexible actuators with high transport efficiency is of great significance for the emerging applications of micro‐robots in various industrial and biomedical environments. Despite recent advancements have enabled soft materials to achieve complex functionalities unattainable by traditional rigid robots, achieving high‐speed transport performance for solid particles remains a significant challenge. Magnetic materials, as an integral component of scientific applications, have demonstrated substantial potential in areas such as biological imaging, catalysis, and energy storage. Inspired by the flexible, soft, and elastic microciliary structures of many organisms, a soft actuator decorated with magnetic microcilia was reported. This soft magnetic microciliary actuator achieves high speed (50 mm s −1 ) transport of solid microspheres by means of magnetic field regulate their surface morphology. Overcoming the limitations of prior studies in which the speed of motion was constrained to a few millimeters per second due to hysteresis effects, this work represents a significant advancement in the emerging field of biomimetic flexible actuators and holds promise in various applications.