NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – A team of engineers from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., have created a stretchy, 3D-printed material that can change color on demand, which could lead to an entirely new type of military camouflage. Futurism.com reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
21 Jan. 2021 -- As detailed in a new study published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, the smart gels were inspired by the color-changing skin of cuttlefish, octopuses, and squids.
“Our research supports a new engineering approach featuring camouflage that can be added to soft materials and create flexible, colorful displays,” says Howon Lee, assistant professor at Rutgers.
To create the camouflage material, the engineers incorporated a light-sensing nanomaterial inside the shape-shifting gel, turning it into a flexible, camouflage-like skin. As a result, the gel could act as an “artificial muscle” that can respond to changes in light by contracting.
John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics
