Professor Babak Ziaie from Purdue University holds a miniature birdlike shape made from magnetic "ferropaper" developed by his team of researchers.

One day, you won’t just be reading about medical miracles in your daily newspaper—your local gazette may be helping, literally, to advance medical technology.

Researchers at Purdue University in the United States have developed what they call magnetic “ferropaper,” ordinary paper that is impregnated with a mixture of mineral oil and magnetic nanoparticles of iron oxide. The nanoparticle-laden paper can then be moved using a magnetic field. Potential applications include an inexpensive motor to power surgical devices together with tweezers to manipulate cells and flexible fingers for minimally invasive surgery. Although all types of paper can be used, newspaper and soft tissue work especially well because of their porous nature. “Paper is very soft, so it won’t damage cells or tissue,” says Babak Ziaie, professor of electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering. “It is very inexpensive to make. You put a droplet on a piece of paper, and that is your actuator, or motor.”

Once saturated with a “ferrofluid” mixture, the paper is coated with a biocompatible plastic film. The coating makes the material water resistant, prevents the fluid from evaporating and improves mechanical properties such as strength, stiffness and elasticity.

Findings will be detailed in a research paper that will be presented at the 23^rd IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, which is held in Hong Kong on 24 to 28 January. The paper was written by Ziaie, electrical engineering doctoral student Pinghung Wei and physics doctoral student Zhenwen Ding.

The magnetic particles, which are commercially available, measure approximately 10 nm diam. “You wouldn’t have to use nanoparticles,” says Ziaie, “but they are easier and cheaper to manufacture than larger-size particles.”

Ziaie and his team fashioned the material into a small cantilever that can be moved or caused to vibrate by applying a magnetic field. “Cantilever actuators are usually made from silicon, which is expensive and requires special cleanroom facilities to manufacture,” notes Ziaie. “Ferropaper, which is 100 times cheaper than silicon, could be a very inexpensive, simple alternative.

The research is based at the Birck Nanotechnology Center in Purdue’s Discovery Park.

The video below shows a bird-shaped construction made of ferropaper slowly flapping its wings.