Physically soft magnetic films and devices: fabrication, properties, printability, and applications

Developing materials that enable fabricating multifunctional devices has been the cornerstone of present-day materials science and engineering. Such multi-functionality makes these devices capable of novel applications ranging from energy, storage, health, and security, to sensing, therapeutics, and many more. In this review, we summarize the recent progress in the development of one such material capable of multifunctional device fabrication: physically soft and magnetic films and devices. These films and devices have two notable properties: first, they are magnetizable; second, they are physically soft and compliant. This review article points out the fabrication processes, characterization strategies, and different applications of such physically soft and magnetic films and devices and highlights the materials and resulting interactions harnessed to develop the inks that are used to fabricate these soft and magnetic films and devices. The applications of such physically soft magnetic films and devices range from driving the motion of microscale objects and triggering fluid flows and mixing in small channels to sensing, detection, and utilization in various biomedical technologies. Finally, we conclude by pointing out the potential of different future research endeavors in this topic.