Our latest research on “Degradable Magnetic Composites from Recycled Nd-Fe-B Magnets for Soft Actuation and Sensing” is now published in Advanced Robotics Research!

In collaboration with Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), the Department of Functional Materials at TU Darmstadt presents a sustainable materials platform for soft robotics and sensing. We report fully degradable, recyclable magnetic composites made by embedding recycled Nd-Fe-B microparticles into a degradable gelatin–glycerol–1,3-propanediol organogel matrix.

These composites combine:

• Tunable mechanics (100–500 kPa strength, up to 750% elongation)
• Rapid recyclability via green solvent degradation (1 min at 80 °C) and thermal reshaping
• High functionality, demonstrated in soft robots reaching up to 5 body lengths/s jumping speed and magnetoelastic sensors for touch, gait, and contactless motion.

This work demonstrates a closed-loop, circular approach to designing soft robotic materials that are high-performing, reconfigurable, and environmentally responsible.

M.B. Khan, L. Guo, K. Schäfer, E.S. Oliveros-Mata, X. Wang, F. Hofmann, M. Lutzi, M. Suppelt, P.T. Das, J. Schmidtpeter, I. Dirba, S. Rinderknecht, M. Kupnik, D. Makarov, O. Gutfleisch,
Advanced Robotics Research 2025, 0, e202500114.
DOI: 10.1002/adrr.202500114