Fabrication of a short carbon fiber/gel composite that responds to a magnetic field

A short carbon fiber (CF)/agarose gel composite in which short CFs were radially embedded in the gel matrix was fabricated. The composite was subjected to strong magnetic fields up to 8 T, to observe its deformation. The composite deformed so that the carbon fibers were aligned parallel to the magnetic field. The deformation was analyzed quantitatively in terms of the magnetic and elastic energies of the composite. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.