This Artificial Skin Can Help You Change Your Skin Color Like A Chameleon

Nanomachines are being used to model an artificial skin design that has color transformation ability in the light. According to researchers from the University of Cambridge, who are carrying out the project, this skin can be utilized for creating dynamic images or active camouflage.

The material of the skin is made of tiny gold particles. According to published research in Advanced Optical Materials, the scientists coated them in a polymer shell. After that, they squeezed them into microscopic water droplets in oil. These particles will stick together when being exposed to light or heat, resulting in the changes in the skin color.

The design of this skin was modeled like cuttlefish, chameleons and animals that can change color thanks to chromatophores in their skin. The distance between nanoparticles decides the color in the skin. It is red in color whenever the particles spread apart. When they are assembled, the color is dark blue. As of now, the artificial skin can change to one color only as the scientists have only made one layer. The more layers we have, the more dynamic the skin is.

Salmon also said that while studying about how light interacts with nanoparticles, his team came up with the idea of trying this technique.

According to Salmon, each microdroplet is as wide as a human hair, measuring 14 nanometers across. In case you can’t imagine, a DNA double helix measures only 2 nanometers across, said Salmon.