title: Cephalopod-inspired design of electro-mechano-chemically responsive elastomers for on-demand fluorescent patterning.
abstract: Cephalopods can display dazzling patterns of colours by selectively contracting muscles to reversibly activate chromatophores--pigment-containing cells under their skins. Inspired by this novel colouring strategy found in nature, we design an electro-mechano-chemically responsive elastomer system that can exhibit a wide variety of fluorescent patterns under the control of electric fields. We covalently couple a stretchable elastomer with mechanochromic molecules, which emit strong fluorescent signals if sufficiently deformed. We then use electric fields to induce various patterns of large deformation on the elastomer surface, which displays versatile fluorescent patterns including lines, circles and letters on demand. Theoretical models are further constructed to predict the electrically induced fluorescent patterns and to guide the design of this class of elastomers and devices. The material and method open promising avenues for creating flexible devices in soft/wet environments that combine deformation, colorimetric and fluorescent response with topological and chemical changes in response to a single remote signal.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Qiming
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Gossweiler
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA [2] Soft Active Materials Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA [3] Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Xuanhe
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001578:Benzopyrans / Q000737:chemistry*; D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D049830:Cephalopoda / Q000502:physiology; D002856:Chromatophores / Q000737:chemistry; D019245:Compressive Strength; D020724:Elastomers / Q000737:chemistry*; D004560:Electricity; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D005453:Fluorescence; D007211:Indoles / Q000737:chemistry*; D015233:Models, Statistical; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D001578:Benzopyrans; D020724:Elastomers; D007211:Indoles