July 22, 2013 Journal article Open Access

Nanocomposite pattern-mediated magnetic interactions for localized deposition of nanomaterials.

Alexandros Lappas; Athanasia Kostopoulou; Athanassia Athanassiou; Roberto Cingolani; Francesca Villafiorita-Monteleone; Bruno Torre; Andrea Falqui; Gabriele Nanni; Despina Fragouli; Alberto Casu

We present a method to create, align, and locate magnetic wires throughout and on the surface of patterned polymer matrices, following the magnetophoretic transport and self-assembly of ferromagnetic nanoparticles under a static magnetic field during laser photopolymerization of monomer/nanoparticle casted solutions. The resulting films have the ability to attract and immobilize small quantities of magnetic nanomaterials locally on the ferromagnetic wires, as proved by a detailed topography study. Magnetic studies on the films before and after the spontaneous deposition, demonstrate that the deposited nanomaterials alter significantly the magnetic character of the system, making thus possible their macroscopic identification. This offers the possibility to realize sensing devices based on hybrid materials with magnetic properties.