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Living Colors: Magnetically Tunable Photonic Gels for Adaptive Camouflage

Inspired by cephalopods, we design soft materials that change color on demand using magnetic fields and temperature—paving the way for real-time adaptive camouflage and smart coatings.

This project develops a bioinspired material platform that mimics the dynamic coloration of cephalopods through structural rather than pigmentary color. The system combines ellipsoidal block copolymer microparticles with a lamellar structure—engineered to scatter visible light—with thermoresponsive hydrogel matrices. Magnetic nanoparticles embedded in the microparticles enable remote, real-time color modulation via external fields. Temperature-sensitive hydrogels allow reversible sol-gel transitions, locking in or releasing the particles’ orientation to control visual appearance. The result is a dual-responsive material that exhibits vivid, tunable, and reversible structural color. Applications range from adaptive camouflage and anti-counterfeiting to soft robotics and sustainable alternatives to conventional dyes.

Main investigator

Involved people