Squid skin inspires infrared stealth camouflage

Led by Alon Gorodetsky, an assistant professor of chemical engineering and materials science, the team produced reflectin – a structural protein essential in the squid’s ability to change colour and reflect light – in common bacteria and used it to make thin, optically active films that mimic the skin of a squid.

With the appropriate chemical stimuli, the film’s colouration and reflectance can shift back and forth, which allows the films to disappear and reappear when visualised with an infrared camera.

Infrared detection equipment is employed extensively by military forces for night vision, navigation, surveillance and targeting. According to UC Irvine, the novelty of this coating lies in its functionality within the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, roughly 700 to 1,200 nanometres, which matches the standard imaging range of most infrared visualisation equipment. This region is not usually accessible to biologically derived reflective materials.

‘Our approach is simple and compatible with a wide array of surfaces, potentially allowing many simple objects to acquire camouflage capabilities,’ said Gorodetsky, whose work has possible applications in infrared stealth camouflage, energy-efficient reflective coatings and biologically inspired optics.