Nickel nanorods with average length and diameter were prepared by the anodic aluminum oxide (AAO)-template method, processed to a colloidal dispersion and embedded in a gelatine hydrogel matrix at low volume fraction . The large aspect ratio of these single-domain particles gives rise to a high magnetic shape anisotropy in combination with a significant anisotropic optical polarizability. The magnetic anisotropy enables exertion of a torque on nanorods without contact by applying a homogeneous magnetic field. In response, the nanorods rotate by an angle which is determined by the balance between the magnetic torque and the mechanical counter torque, caused by the elastic deformation of the surrounding matrix. This rotation was experimentally detected using optical transmission of linearly polarized light. We used the combination of magnetization and torque-driven rotation measurements to evaluate an adapted Stoner–Wohlfarth model of the orientation- and field-dependent magnetic torque on Ni nanorods in an elastic environment as base for optimization of torque-driven magnetic actuators.

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Uniaxial ferromagnetic Ni nanorods were prepared by the anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template method. Reversible magnetization changes, measured perpendicular to the texture axis, were analyzed in terms of the Stoner–Wohlfarth model (SW). Using empirical model parameters, a quantitative and consistent description of the orientation- and field-dependent magnetic torque per particle was achieved. The model was extended (eSW) to take into account the local rotation of the magnetic nanorods in a soft-elastic matrix. The nanorods were characterized regarding their size, using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), their magnetic moment and colloidal volume fraction, determined from static field-dependent optical transmission (SFOT) measurements, and their rotational shape factor, obtained from oscillating field-dependent optical transmission (OFOT). The eSW-model was used in the simulation of simple bending and torsion of thin composite filaments. These simulations were compared with experimental results with the focus on the effect of finite magnetic anisotropy and local elastic rotation on the field-induced deformation of soft nanocomposites. The high sensitivity of thin filaments enabled the investigation of torque-induced deformation at nanorod volume density as low as 10−4 at which particle-particle interactions were negligible. In addition, reprogramming of the magnetic texture by magnetization reversal and the resulting modification in the deformation pattern was investigated.

Nickel (Ni) nanorods were prepared by the anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) template method and dispersed in poly(acrylamide) (PAM) hydrogels. The deformation of the magnetoresponsive composites was studied with particular attention to the consequences of finite magnetic shape anisotropy as compared to rigid dipoles on the field-dependent torque. For comparison with experiments, the composite was described as an elastic continuum with a local magnetic torque density, applied by discrete particles and determined by the local orientation of their magnetic anisotropy axis with respect to the magnetic field. The mean magnetic moment of the single domain particles m and their volume density in the composite φvol were derived from the static field-dependent optical transmission (SFOT) of linear polarized light. The mechanical coupling between the particles and their viscoelastic environment was retrieved from the rotational dynamics of the nanorods using oscillating field-dependent optical transmission (OFOT) measurements. Field- and orientation-dependent magnetization measurements were analyzed using the Stoner–Wohlfarth (SW) model and a valid parameter range was identified by introducing an effective anisotropy constant KA as a new empirical model parameter. This adapted SW-model for quantitative description of the field- and orientation dependence of the magnetic torque was validated by measuring the local rotation of nanorods in a soft elastic hydrogel. Finally, torsional and bending deformation of thin magnetically textured composite filaments were computed and compared with experiments.

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