Researchers at the University of Stuttgart and the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research have developed miniature ceramic structures that can rapidly roll and unroll when exposed to a magnetic field, offering a new way to power microrobots and flexible robotic systems. The devices, known as magnetic ceramic microscrolls, are only a few micrometers wide and can reach lengths of up to 25 millimeters when fully extended. Despite their tiny dimensions, the microscrolls can lift more than 30 times their own weight and continue operating after at least 5,000 rolling and unrolling cycles. The findings, published in Advanced Materials, introduce a manufacturing platform that could turn ultrathin functional films into programmable three-dimensional actuators within seconds.
The work addresses one of the central challenges in microrobotics: how to create compact actuators capable of producing useful motion without relying on bulky motors, gears, wires, or conventional batteries. Microrobots designed for medicine, industrial inspection, environmental monitoring, and microassembly must operate in confined spaces, while soft robots need components that can bend and deform without breaking. Traditional ceramic materials are attractive because they can withstand heat, chemicals, and mechanical wear, but they are normally brittle. The Stuttgart-led team overcame this limitation by engineering ceramic films with a hierarchical structure that allows them to flex elastically while retaining the functional properties of the material.
The design was inspired by the proboscis of a butterfly, although the researchers did not attempt to reproduce its biological function. Instead, they focused on the proboscis’s ability to coil and uncoil smoothly. That motion suggested a route toward an actuator in which a flat film could be transformed into a tightly wound scroll and then deployed on demand. The researchers used ultrathin vanadium pentoxide films containing magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. Vanadium pentoxide was selected because of its established role in the team’s materials research, while the embedded magnetic particles provided a mechanism for controlling the structure remotely.
The manufacturing process is deliberately simple. The functional film is first prepared as an ultrathin layer on a supporting substrate. A razor blade is then used to gently peel the film away. As the blade advances, the released portion bends continuously and curls around itself, much like a thin sheet being rolled by a miniature woodworking plane. In a matter of seconds, the flat material becomes a compact microscroll. This mechanically assisted process avoids the need for complex three-dimensional fabrication and could potentially be adapted to a wide range of thin-film materials. The researchers describe the scrolling step as a platform rather than merely a method for producing one particular actuator.
Once formed, the microscroll responds to an external magnetic field. When a magnet is brought close, magnetic nanoparticles embedded throughout the ceramic structure experience a magnetic force and torque. Their collective response pulls the scroll open, rapidly unrolling the ceramic film. When the magnet is removed, the microscroll returns to its coiled configuration. The movement results from the interaction between the magnetic particles and the elastic energy stored in the rolled film. In this sense, the device behaves like a microscopic spring whose position can be controlled without physical contact. Because the actuation is wireless and does not require an onboard power source, it could be especially valuable in environments where conventional electrical connections are impractical.
The unusual performance of the microscrolls comes from their internal architecture. Electron microscope images show multiple structural levels, from the ceramic film itself to nanoscale and microscale features distributed throughout it. This bio-inspired hierarchical organization helps prevent the brittle fracture normally associated with ceramic materials. Instead of concentrating stress at a single point, the layered structure can distribute mechanical loads across the film as it bends and rolls. The result is a material that combines the durability and functional stability of a ceramic with the flexibility normally associated with polymers or thin metallic foils. That combination is difficult to achieve and is central to the device’s ability to survive repeated deformation.
In experiments, the microscrolls demonstrated a combination of size, strength, speed, and durability that could make them useful as actuators for future robotic systems. Coiled scrolls measured only a few hundred micrometers in diameter, while their extended length could reach 25 millimeters. Their ability to move loads exceeding 30 times their own weight indicates that the structures can generate significant force relative to their mass. They also remained functional after 5,000 actuation cycles, an important result for robotic components that must operate repeatedly rather than perform a single movement. The researchers say the microscrolls can be organized into programmable arrays, allowing several actuators to move together and lift, transport, or manipulate microscopic objects in coordinated ways.
Such arrays could give microrobots a new form of mechanical intelligence. Individual scrolls could serve as grippers, hinges, locomotion elements, valves, or deployable structures, while groups of scrolls could produce synchronized movements. In a medical setting, remotely controlled microscale actuators might eventually contribute to tools designed to navigate narrow biological spaces, although substantial development and testing would be required before any clinical application. In industrial environments, the same principle could support miniature manipulators for assembling delicate components or handling particles too small for conventional machines. Soft robots could also benefit because the ceramic scrolls provide controlled movement while remaining compact and mechanically resilient.
The researchers emphasize that the broader significance of the work lies in the scrolling platform itself. The same mechanically assisted process may be transferable to other organic and inorganic thin films, including materials designed for sensing, energy storage, electronics, or multifunctional devices. By combining chemical composition, magnetic functionality, internal architecture, and mechanical processing, the platform could produce small systems that change shape in response to external signals. The work grew from a DFG-funded project, with early experiments conducted by Semi Kim during a master’s thesis in 2023 and later expanded by the research team. For the scientists, the butterfly-inspired microscroll is therefore not an endpoint but a demonstration of how biological motion can guide the engineering of programmable materials for the next generation of miniature machines.
Subject of Research: Magnetically actuated ceramic microscrolls for microrobotics and soft robotics
Article Title: Mechanically Assisted Magnetic Actuation in Ceramic-Based Microscrolls for Fast and Durable Soft Robotic Systems
News Publication Date: 8-Aug-2026
Web References: https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.74544
References: Semi Kim, Shravan R. Kousik, Petia Atanasova, Eberhard Goering, Joachim Bill, Zaklina Burghard, Advanced Materials
Image Credits: Copyright: University of Stuttgart / Institute for Materials Science.
Keywords
Microrobotics, soft robotics, ceramic microscrolls, magnetic actuation, vanadium pentoxide, iron oxide nanoparticles, bio-inspired materials, programmable materials, microactuators, University of Stuttgart
