Blue-ringed octopus inspires camouflage tech

Native to the Western Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean, the octopus uses the iridescent blue rings on its underlying brown skin to signal to other creatures, camouflage itself and ward off enemies. To mimic this action, the UCI team used wrinkled blue rings surrounding brown circles, sandwiched between a transparent proton-conducting electrode and an underlying acrylic membrane, with another identical electrode underneath. The work is published in Nature Communications.

According to senior co-author Alon Gorodetsky, the type of molecules used to fabricate the coloured blue ring layer are what endow the devices with their outstanding features, including adjustable spectroscopic properties, ease of manufacturing and stability under illumination.

“We are fascinated by the mechanisms underpinning the blue-ringed octopus’ ability to rapidly switch its skin markings between hidden and exposed states,” said Gorodetsky, UCI professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering.

“For this project, we worked to mimic the octopus’ natural abilities with devices from unique materials we synthesized in our laboratory, and the result is an octopus-inspired deception and signalling system that is straightforward to fabricate, functions for a long time when operated continuously, and can even repair itself when damaged.”