While many animals can actively change their coloration and patterning throughout their lifetime, cephalopods are able to do so nearly instantaneously and multiple times a minute. They do so using multiple integrated optical organs that work with the central nervous system to power the dynamic and interactive changes. We investigate the role of one of the active components of coloration in cephalopod skin, xanthommatin. Xanthommatin is a redox active chromophore that changes from red (reduced) to yellow (oxidized) in the presence of an electrochemical field. We describe a method for formulating, printing and characterizing an ink containing xanthommatin to create electrochromic devices of a customizable pattern and scale. These printed electrochromic displays produce distinct shifts in color corresponding to the application of an applied voltage +/- 1.5V on a time scale of ~2.5 minutes. While these changes are much slower than that of the cephalopod, they represent an important first step toward replicating active color changes in these animals. Future work will include optimized additives and electrolytes that may speed up the change in color to increase the lifetime and sensitivity of these devices.

Printing electrochromic displays from cephalopod-derived pigments

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.