The skin structure of cephalopods endows them with remarkable dynamic camouflage capabilities. Consequently, much research effort has focused on understanding and emulating these animals’ color changing abilities in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In contrast, despite the importance of infrared signaling and detection for many industrial and military applications, few studies have attempted to translate the principles underlying cephalopod adaptive coloration to infrared camouflage. We have drawn inspiration from nanostructures implicated in cephalopods’ camouflage abilities and developed strategies for the self-assembly of unique cephalopod structural proteins into dynamically tunable biomimetic camouflage coatings on both transparent and flexible substrates.1,2 Our substrates can adhere to arbitrary surfaces, and their reflectance can be reversibly modulated from the visible to the near-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum with both chemical and mechanical stimuli.1,2 Thus, we can endow common objects with any shape or form factor with tunable camouflage capabilities.1,2 Our work represents a key step toward the development of wearable biomimetic color and shapeshifting technologies for stealth applications. 1. Phan, L.; Walkup IV, W. G.; Ordinario, D. O.; Karshalev, E.; Jocson, J.-M.; Burke, A. M.; Gorodetsky, A. A. Reconfigurable infrared camouflage coatings from a cephalopod protein. Adv. Mater. 2013, 25, 5621-5625. 2. Phan, L.; Ordinario, D. O.; Karshalev, E.; Shenk, M.; Gorodetsky, A. A. Infrared invisibility stickers inspired by cephalopods. 2014, Submitted.

Infrared invisibility stickers inspired by cephalopods

249th National Meeting (2015)

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