New material with magnetic shape memory
(PHYSorg.com Chemistry)

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and ETH Zurich have developed a new material that retains a given shape when it is put into a magnetic field. It is a composite material consisting of two components. Unlike previous shape-memory materials, it consists of a polymer and embedded droplets of a so-called magnetorheological fluid. Areas of application for this new type of composite material include medicine, aerospace, electronics and robotics. The researchers are now publishing their results in the scientific journal Advanced Materials.