Octopus-inspired deception and signaling systems from an exceptionally-stable acene variant

Preeta Pratakshya; Chengyi Xu; David J Dibble; Aliya Mukazhanova; Panyiming Liu; Anthony M Burke; Reina Kurakake; Robert Lopez; Philip R Dennison; Sahar Sharifzadeh; Alon A Gorodetsky

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-40163-7

Octopus-inspired deception and signaling systems from an exceptionally-stable acene variant

Nat Commun. 2023 Dec 22;14(1):8528. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-40163-7.

Authors

Preeta Pratakshya^#¹, Chengyi Xu^#², David J Dibble^#³, Aliya Mukazhanova⁴, Panyiming Liu², Anthony M Burke³, Reina Kurakake², Robert Lopez², Philip R Dennison¹, Sahar Sharifzadeh^{4

5

6

7}, Alon A Gorodetsky^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
² Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA.
³ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA.
⁴ Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
⁶ Department of Physics, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
⁷ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
⁸ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA. alon.gorodetsky@uci.edu.
⁹ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA. alon.gorodetsky@uci.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Multifunctional platforms that can dynamically modulate their color and appearance have attracted attention for applications as varied as displays, signaling, camouflage, anti-counterfeiting, sensing, biomedical imaging, energy conservation, and robotics. Within this context, the development of camouflage systems with tunable spectroscopic and fluorescent properties that span the ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared spectral regions has remained exceedingly challenging because of frequently competing materials and device design requirements. Herein, we draw inspiration from the unique blue rings of the Hapalochlaena lunulata octopus for the development of deception and signaling systems that resolve these critical challenges. As the active material, our actuator-type systems incorporate a readily-prepared and easily-processable nonacene-like molecule with an ambient-atmosphere stability that exceeds the state-of-the-art for comparable acenes by orders of magnitude. Devices from this active material feature a powerful and unique combination of advantages, including straightforward benchtop fabrication, competitive baseline performance metrics, robustness during cycling with the capacity for autonomous self-repair, and multiple dynamic multispectral operating modes. When considered together, the described exciting discoveries point to new scientific and technological opportunities in the areas of functional organic materials, reconfigurable soft actuators, and adaptive photonic systems.

Abstract

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