Artificial cilia of magnetically tagged polymer nanowires for biomimetic mechanosensing

Polymeric nanowires of polypyrrole have been implemented as artificial cilia on giant-magneto-resistive multilayer sensors for a biomimetic sensing approach. The arrays were tagged with a magnetic material, the stray field of which changes relative to the underlying sensor as a consequence of mechanical stimuli which are delivered by a piezoactuator. The principle resembles balance sensing in mammals. Measurements of the sensor output voltage suggest a proof of concept at frequencies of around 190 kHz and a tag thickness of ∼300 nm. Characterization was performed by scanning electron microscopy and magnetic force microscopy. Micromagnetic and finite-element simulations were conducted to assess basic sensing aspects.