Magnetic nanosheets manipulation: Modeling, development and validation

Polymeric ultra-thin films, also called nanosheets, show peculiar properties in terms of thickness, flexibility and chemical structure. For these reasons, they were proposed as nanoplasters for localized drug release or as a new solution for closing endoluminal surgical wounds. This paper presents the fabrication and characterization of free-standing nanosheets loaded with iron oxide nanoparticles, which can be manipulated in liquid environment by means of magnetic fields. A theoretical model of magnetic manipulation of the nanosheet is proposed and validated by dragging the film with a permanent magnet mounted on an industrial robotic arm. Controlling the magnetic sheet in liquid environment represents a first step towards the application of these nanostructures as free-standing carriers to be released and magnetically controlled in endoluminal surgery or as plasters with nanometric thickness to be delivered in situ on surgical incisions. Furthermore, these magnetic nanofilms can be adapted and used as micro and nanocomponents for the design of a novel generation of magnetic actuated polymeric microrobots.