Research & Development World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Squid-inspired invisibility stickers to protect soldiers

By R&D Editors | March 23, 2015

Squid are the ultimate camouflage artists, blending almost flawlessly with their backgrounds so that unsuspecting prey can’t detect them. Using a protein that’s key to this process, scientists have designed “invisibility stickers” that could one day help soldiers disguise themselves, even when sought by enemies with tough-to-fool infrared cameras.

The researchers presented their work at the 249th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

“Soldiers wear uniforms with the familiar green and brown camouflage patterns to blend into foliage during the day, but under low light and at night, they’re still vulnerable to infrared detection,” explains Alon Gorodetsky, PhD “We’ve developed stickers for use as a thin, flexible layer of camo with the potential to take on a pattern that will better match the soldiers’ infrared reflectance to their background and hide them from active infrared visualization.”

To work toward this effect, Gorodetsky of the Univ. of California at Irvine (UCI) turned to squid skin for inspiration. Squid skin features unusual cells known as iridocytes, which contain layers or platelets composed of a protein called reflectin. The animal uses a biochemical cascade to change the thickness of the layers and their spacing. This in turn affects how the cells reflect light and thus, the skin’s coloration.

Gorodetsky’s group coaxed bacteria to produce reflectin and then coated a hard substrate with the protein. To induce structural—and light-reflecting—changes just like those of iridocytes, the film needed some kind of trigger. An initial search revealed that acetic acid vapors could cause the film to swell and disappear when viewed with an infrared camera. But these conditions won’t work for soldiers in the field.

“What we were doing was the equivalent of bathing the film in acetic acid vapors—essentially exposing it to concentrated vinegar,” Gorodetsky says. “That is not practical for real-life use.”

Now Gorodetsky has fabricated reflectin films on conformable polymer substrates, effectively sticky tape one might find in any household. This tape can adhere to a range of surfaces including cloth uniforms, and its appearance under an infrared camera can be changed by stretching, a mechanical trigger that might more realistically be used in military operations.

Although the technology isn’t ready for field use just yet, he envisions soldiers or security personnel could one day carry in their packs a roll of invisibility stickers that they could cover their uniforms with as needed.

“We’re going after something that’s inexpensive and completely disposable,” he says. “You take out this protein-coated tape, you use it quickly to make an appropriate camouflage pattern on the fly, then you take it off and throw it away.”

Gorodetsky says that some major challenges remain. The team will have to figure out how to increase the brightness of the stickers and get multiple stickers to respond in the same way at the same time, as part of an adaptive camouflage system.

He’s also working on ways to make the stickers more versatile. The current version reflects near-infrared light. Gorodetsky’s team is continuing to tweak the materials, so variants of the stickers could also work at mid- and far-infrared wavelengths. These could have applications for thwarting thermal infrared imaging. They also could have uses outside the military—for example, in clothing that can selectively trap or release body heat to keep people comfortable in different environments.

Moreover, in collaboration with Francesco Tombola, PhD, and Lisa Flanagan, Ph.D., from the UCI School of Medicine, Gorodetsky’s lab has shown that reflectin supports cell growth. This could have implications for making new types of bioelectronic devices and even growing “living” semi-artificial squid skin.

Source: American Chemical Society

ENTRIES OPEN:
Establish your company as a technology leader. For 50 years, the R&D 100 Awards, widely recognized as the “Oscars of Invention,” have showcased products of technological significance. Learn more.

Related Articles Read More >

professional photo of wooly mammoth in nature --ar 2:1 --personalize sq85hce --v 6.1 Job ID: 47185eaa-b213-4624-8bee-44f9e882feaa
Why science ethicists are sounding skepticism and alarm on ‘de-extinction’
ALAFIA system speeds complex molecular simulations for University of Miami drug research
3d rendered illustration of the anatomy of a cancer cell
Funding flows to obesity, oncology and immunology: 2024 sales data show where science is paying off
Health-related innovation in Morocco highlighted by resident inventor patenting activity
rd newsletter
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, trends, and strategies in Research & Development.
RD 25 Power Index

R&D World Digital Issues

Fall 2024 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R&D magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE