OREANDA-NEWS. Using a modified three-dimensional printer, a team of scientists from the Berkeley laboratory created a liquid magnet. This could lead to a revolutionary type of printable liquid devices for a variety of applications. Scientists came up with the idea of ​​forming liquid structures from ferrofluids, solutions of iron oxide particles, which become magnetic, but only in the presence of another magnet.

To make them magnetic, the scientists placed the drops with a magnetic coil in the solution. As expected, the magnetic coil attracted iron oxide nanoparticles to itself. But when they removed the magnetic coil, the drops were attracted to each other in unison. The key to the discovery of steel is iron oxide nanoparticles. When the nanoparticles on the surface are magnetized, they transfer the magnetic orientation to the particles floating around the nucleus, and the whole drop becomes permanently magnetic, like a solid.

The researchers also found that the magnetic properties of the droplets were preserved, even when the droplets were divided into smaller ones. They change shape to adapt to the environment without losing their magnetic properties. It is planned to continue research to develop more complex three-dimensional printed magnetic liquid structures, such as an artificial cell with liquid printing or miniature robotics, which moves like a tiny propeller for non-invasive, but targeted drug delivery to diseased cells.