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Ink that mimics the colour of incoming light

Light-sensitive particles have been shown to stratify in solution in a way that changes the colour of the whole suspension. The system forms a colour-changing ink that could make electronic paper a viable technology.
  1. Hector Lopez-Rios

    1. Hector Lopez-Rios is in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.

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  2. Monica Olvera de la Cruz

    1. Monica Olvera de la Cruz are in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.

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As you read this, various receptors in your eyes are being activated. These receptors respond to light by sending signals to the brain, allowing you to discern different wavelengths of light through your perception of colour and brightness. Writing in Nature, Zheng et al.1 report the development of an ink that can be activated by specific colours of light, much like receptors in the eye. Instead of sending signals, however, the authors’ ink particles become motile when activated, and reorganize into a configuration that reflects the activating light, thereby taking on its colour. Such a response is typically seen only in nature — for example, in a cuttlefish’s ability to camouflage its entire body in a matter of seconds in the presence of a predator2.

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Nature 617, 467-468 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01582-0

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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