AsianScientist (Jul. 12, 2018) – Inspired by the skin of frogs, researchers at Nagoya University, Japan, have developed a color-changing composite material. Their research is published in Small.
Creatures such as chameleons, octopuses and frogs can change color in response to their environment. Scientists have obtained anatomical, cellular and molecular insights into this ability. However, translating these natural adaptations into useful applications remains a challenge.
“We are increasingly able to adapt the color-changing mechanisms in some animals to artificial devices,” said Dr. Miki Sakai of Nagoya University. “If these artificial color-changing materials can match or surpass the vibrant displays that some animals such as octopuses and frogs make, they could have exciting applications in the development of new display technologies.”
In the present study, Sakai and her colleagues developed a material containing dyes and crystals that can change its colors and patterns in response to exposure to visible or ultraviolet light. The team was inspired to develop this material by the skin of color-changing frogs, in which different layers of cells with different properties combine to enable remarkable color changes.
Each component of the material plays a key role in its color properties. For example, the dyes contribute their inherent colors to the material’s appearance, and some of them change color upon exposure to light.
The microscopic structure of the spherical crystal component directly interferes with light by breaking up the incident beams. Finally, a black pigment and different background colors were used to alter the colors of the other components.
“We examined the influences of the different components in the system, such as by changing the size of the crystals, switching the background from white to black, or performing exposure to visible or ultraviolet light,” said corresponding author Associate Proffessor Yukikazu Takeoka. “These changes resulted in different colors being displayed across the material, resembling the way some organisms change color in response to various factors in their environment.”
The article can be found at: Sakai et al. (2018) Bioinspired Color Materials Combining Structural, Dye, and Background Colors.
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Source: Nagoya University; Photo: Pexels.
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