Magnetic Putty as A Reconfigurable, Recyclable, And Accessible Soft Robotic Material.

Magnetically hard materials are widely used to build soft magnetic robots, providing large magnetic force/torque and macrodomain programmability. However, their high magnetic coercivity often presents practical challenges when attempting to reconfigure magnetization patterns, requiring a large magnetic field or heating. In this study, we introduce magnetic putty as a magnetically hard and soft material with large remanence and low coercivity. We show that the magnetization of magnetic putty can be easily reoriented with maximum magnitude using an external field that is only one tenth of its coercivity. Additionally, magnetic putty is a malleable, autonomous self-healing material that can be recycled and repurposed. We anticipate magnetic putty could provide a versatile and accessible tool to various magnetic robotics applications for fast prototyping and explorations for research and educational purposes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.