Magnetic and mechanical properties of micro/nano particles prepared by metallizing rod-shaped bacteria

Ni microparticles composed of nano grains are obtained by microbiological and electroless deposition techniques. Ni nano grains deposit on the surface of Nocadia, one kind of rod-shaped bacteria. The alignment of the rod-shaped metallized Nocadia under conditions with and without an applied magnetic field is investigated. The electromagnetic and mechanical properties of the microparticles are characterized by a network analyzer and a nanoindentor. It is found that controlled alignment of the metallized Nocadia is realized under the conditions with and without an applied magnetic field. The dielectric loss is greater than 4.5. The hardness and the elastic modulus of the specimen are 0.55 GPa and 11.26 GPa, respectively. The mechanical properties are greatly improved compared with the bare bacteria.