Inside most materials, little is moving. But a new “active nanocomposite” is teeming with motion: small particles connect or separate, thus changing the color of the entire material.
The transparent material can “answer” temperature changes or, in the future, the presence of chemical substances and toxins with a color change. The researchers want to create packaging films that change their color when food spoils, for example.
Find further information in the original publication “A Translucent Nanocomposite with Liquid Inclusions of a Responsive Nanoparticle Dispersion”, https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201803159 or in the press release “Researchers develop a solid material with mobile particles that react to the environment”