Cephalopod-Inspired Ultralow

Voltage Dielectric Elastomer

Iridophores

George Stiubianu

1
 Cephalopod-Inspired Ultralow Voltage Dielectric
Elastomer Iridophores
• Reconfigurable Photonic Devices
- Iridophores and Chromatophores in Nature
- Current Cephalopod-Inspired Technologies
- Preliminary Results and Challenges
• Approach for Overcoming the Challenges
- Synthesis and Evaluation of Infrared-Transparent Active Layer Materials
- Fabrication and Evaluation of Active Layers with Embedded Nanostructures
- Construction and Characterization of Adaptive IR Camouflage Devices
• Conclusions
Biological Artificial

2
 Cephalopod-Inspired Ultralow Voltage Dielectric
Elastomer Iridophores
• Reconfigurable Photonic Devices
- Iridophores and Chromatophores in Nature
- Current Cephalopod-Inspired Technologies
- Preliminary Results and Challenges
• Approach for Overcoming the Challenges
- Synthesis and Evaluation of Infrared-Transparent Active Layer Materials
- Fabrication and Evaluation of Active Layers with Embedded Nanostructures
- Construction and Characterization of Adaptive IR Camouflage Devices
• Conclusions
Biological Artificial

3
 The Fascinating World of
Camouflage and Shapeshifters

Theoi Greek Mythology: www.theoi.com, accessed January 15, 2016. 4

Video from http://collider.com/x-men-days-of-future-past-movie-clips/, accessed February 15, 2016.
 Structural Coloration and
Camouflage Found in Nature

Structural coloration Infrared camouflage

Structural Coloration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_coloration

S. Vignolini, et. al. Pointillist structural color in Pollia fruit. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 109, 15712-15715 (2012). 5
P. A. Schwalm, et. al. Infrared reflectance in leaf-sitting neotropical frogs. Science 196, 1225-1227 (1977).
 Structural Coloration and
Camouflage Found in Nature

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Video courtesy of Dr. Roger Hanlon, Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VjxvrXGEHk
 The General Architecture of Cephalopod Skin

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E. Kreit, et. al., Biological versus adaptive coloration: how can one inform the other? J. R. Soc. Interface 10, 20120601 (2012).
 How a Chromatophore Works

Backyard Brains. http://io9.com/5937406/watch-what-happens-when-you-play-cypress-hill-through-a-squids-fin

G. R. R. Bell, et. al. Chromatophore radial muscle fibers anchor in flexible squid skin. Invertebrate Biol. 132, 120-132 (2013).
T. J. Wardill, et. al., Neural control of tuneable skin iridescence in squid. Proc. R. Soc. B 279, 4243-4252 (2012).
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L. Deravi, et. al. The structure–function relationships of a natural nanoscale photonic device in cuttlefish chromatophores. J. R. Soc. Interface
11, 20130942/1-20130942/9 (2014).
 How an Iridophore Works

10 mm 1 mm

A. R. Tao, et. al. The role of protein in assembly in dynamically tunable bio-optical tissues. Biomaterials 31, 793-801 (2010).
D. G. DeMartini, et. al. Membrane invaginations facilitate reversible water flux driving tunable iridescence in a dynamic biophotonic system.
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Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 110, 2552-2556 (2013).
 Cephalopod-Inspired Ultralow Voltage Dielectric
Elastomer Iridophores
• Reconfigurable Photonic Devices
- Iridophores and Chromatophores in Nature
- Current Cephalopod-Inspired Technologies
- Preliminary Results and Challenges
• Approach for Overcoming the Challenges
- Synthesis and Evaluation of Infrared-Transparent Active Layer Materials
- Fabrication and Evaluation of Active Layers with Embedded Nanostructures
- Construction and Characterization of Adaptive IR Camouflage Devices
• Conclusions
Biological Artificial

10
 Cephalopod-Inspired Technologies

S. A. Morin, et al., Camouflage and Display for Soft Machines, Science, 337, 828−832 (2012).
C. Yu, et al., Adaptive Optoelectronic Camouflage Systems Inspired by Cephalopod Skins, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 111, 12998−13003 (2014).
 Cephalopod-Inspired Technologies
with Dielectric Elastomers

Q. Wang, et al., Cephalopod-Inspired Design of Electro-Mechano-Chemically Responsive Elastomers, Nat. Commun., 5, 4899 (2014).
J. Rossiter, et al. Colour Gamuts in Polychromatic Dielectric Elastomer Artificial Chromatophores, Proc. SPIE, 9056, 905620-1−905620-8 (2014).
 Why Infrared Camouflage?

Images in infrared provide as much information as the ones taken in visible wavelength.

http://www.gotscience.org/2016/06/hot-towns-urban-heat-islands/2/ 13
https://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang/how-astronomers-see-the-universe-through-our-galaxy-8426933b7673#.
 Why Infrared Camouflage?

http://www.gotscience.org/2016/06/hot-towns-urban-heat-islands/2/ 14
https://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang/how-astronomers-see-the-universe-through-our-galaxy-8426933b7673#.
 Cephalopod-Inspired Ultralow Voltage Dielectric
Elastomer Iridophores
• Reconfigurable Photonic Devices
- Iridophores and Chromatophores in Nature
- Current Cephalopod-Inspired Technologies
- Preliminary Results and Challenges
• Approach for Overcoming the Challenges
- Synthesis and Evaluation of Infrared-Transparent Active Layer Materials
- Fabrication and Evaluation of Active Layers with Embedded Nanostructures
- Construction and Characterization of Adaptive IR Camouflage Devices
• Conclusions
Biological Artificial

15
 Dielectric Elastomer Actuator
Voltage OFF Voltage ON

Maxwell Stress +
Electrode Electrical
Dielectric Actuation
Elastomer
Electrode Direction
of Actuation

2   : deformation in thickness
 
1 𝑉 : Young’s modulus of elastomer
𝑆 𝑧= 𝜀 𝜀 𝐷𝐸
𝑌 0 𝑧 ( ) : dielectric constant of vacuum
: dielectric constant of elastomer
: applied voltage
: thickness of elastomer

Pelrine, R., et. al. High-speed electrically actuated elastomers with strain greater than 100%, Science 287, 836-839 (2000). 16
Biggs, J., et. al. Electroactive Polymers: Developments of and Perspectives for Dielectric Elastomers, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 52, 9409-9421 (2013).
 Preliminary Results:
Artificial Iridophore Structure

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 Preliminary Results

Mechanical Actuation Electrical Actuation

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Preliminary Results: Infrared Camouflage
Schematics IR Image

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 Challenges Working with DE Actuators

December
2016

December
2015

• High operation voltage (kV)

• Background IR absorptance
• Stability over the duration of many cycles (>103 Cycles)

S. J. Dünki, et. al. Self-Repairable, High Permittivity Dielectric Elastomers, Adv. Funct. Mater., 25, 2467–2475 (2015). 20
R. Pelrine, et al., High-speed electrically actuated elastomers with strain greater than 100%, Science, 287, 836-839 (2000).
 Cephalopod-Inspired Ultralow Voltage Dielectric
Elastomer Iridophores
• Reconfigurable Photonic Devices
- Iridophores and Chromatophores in Nature
- Current Cephalopod-Inspired Technologies
- Preliminary Results and Challenges
• Approach for Overcoming the Challenges
- Synthesis and Evaluation of Infrared-Transparent Active Layer Materials
- Fabrication and Evaluation of Active Layers with Embedded Nanostructures
- Construction and Characterization of Adaptive IR Camouflage Devices
• Conclusions
Biological Artificial

21
 Dielectric Elastomer Actuator
Voltage OFF Voltage ON

Maxwell Stress +
Electrode Electrical
Dielectric Actuation
Elastomer
Electrode Direction
of Actuation

2   : deformation in thickness
 
1 𝑉 : Young’s modulus of elastomer
𝑆 𝑧= 𝜀 𝜀 𝐷𝐸
𝑌 0 𝑧 ( ) : dielectric constant of vacuum
: dielectric constant of elastomer
: applied voltage
: thickness of elastomer

Pelrine, R., et. al. High-speed electrically actuated elastomers with strain greater than 100%, Science 287, 836-839 (2000).
Biggs, J., et. al. Electroactive Polymers: Developments of and Perspectives for Dielectric Elastomers, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 52, 9409-9421 (2013).
 Why We Select Silicone Dielectric Elastomers

Best performance:
• 5.2% areal strain at 0.5 V/µm (PU);
• 235% areal increase at 91 V/µm (3M VHB)

M. Tian, Separated-structured all-organic dielectric elastomer with large actuation strain under ultralow voltage and high mechanical
strength, J. Mater. Chem. A, 3, 1483-1491 (2015).
J. Rossiter, et al., Biomimetic chromatophores for camouflage and soft active surfaces. Bioinspir. Biomim. 7, 036009 (2012) (10pp).
 Why We Select Silicone Dielectric Elastomers

• Lower dependence on environmental conditions

• Elastic behavior (low hysteresis)
• High robustness (~109 cycles, mean time to failure >107 cycles)
Microsystems for Space Technologies Laboratory EPFL-LMTS, http://lmts.epfl.ch/
Ji Xiaobin, et al., Soft tunable diffractive optics with multifunctional transparent electrodes, Appl. Phys. Lett. 109, 191901 (2016).
O. A. Araromi, et al., High-resolution, large-area fabrication of compliant electrodes via laser ablation for robust, stretchable
dielectric elastomer actuators and sensors, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 7(32), 18046-18053 (2015).
 Proposed Design for New Silicone Polymer

Low Y modulus

High er

S. J. Dünki, et. al. Self-Repairable, High Permittivity Dielectric Elastomers, Adv. Funct. Mater., 25, 2467–2475 (2015). 25
J. Goff, et. al. Soft Materials with Recoverable Shape Factors from Extreme Distortion States, Adv. Mater., 28, 2393–2398 (2016).
 Processing and Characterization

Processing (Spin coating)

Spin Coat Delaminate

Characterization (Uniaxial tension test)

Apply Tension

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 Processing and Characterization

Characterization

FTIR IR Camera SEM DMA

100 μm

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 Cephalopod-Inspired Ultralow Voltage Dielectric
Elastomer Iridophores
• Reconfigurable Photonic Devices
- Iridophores and Chromatophores in Nature
- Current Cephalopod-Inspired Technologies
- Preliminary Results and Challenges
• Approach for Overcoming the Challenges
- Synthesis and Evaluation of Infrared-Transparent Active Layer Materials
- Fabrication and Evaluation of Active Layers with Embedded Nanostructures
- Construction and Characterization of Adaptive IR Camouflage Devices
• Conclusions
Biological Artificial

28
 Dielectric Elastomer Actuator
Voltage OFF Voltage ON

Maxwell Stress +
Electrode Electrical
Dielectric Actuation
Elastomer
Electrode Direction
of Actuation

2   : the deformation in thickness

 
1 𝑉 : Young’s modulus of elastomer
𝑆 𝑧= 𝜀 𝜀 𝐷𝐸
𝑌 0 𝑧 ( ) : dielectric constant of vacuum
: dielectric constant of elastomer
: applied voltage
: the thickness of elastomer

Pelrine, R., et. al. High-speed electrically actuated elastomers with strain greater than 100%, Science 287, 836-839 (2000).
Biggs, J., et. al. Electroactive Polymers: Developments of and Perspectives for Dielectric Elastomers, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 52, 9409-9421 (2013).
 Why We Select Barium Titanate Nanostructures

(a) BT/PDMS Best result:

composite • εr increase from 3
(b) BT/PDMS with (pure PDMS) up to
100 phr DMSO 9 (10 wt % added)
(c) VHB 4910 acrylics • 42% areal strain at
14 V/µm (PDMS)

Y. Liu, et al., Dielectric elastomer film actuators: characterization, experiment and analysis, Smart Mater. Struct. 18, 095024 (10pp) (2009).
H. Zhao, et al., Temperature-dependent electro-mechanical actuation sensitivity in stiffness-tunable BaTiO 3/polydimethylsiloxane dielectric
elastomer nanocomposites, Appl. Phys. Lett., 106, 092904 (2015).
A. Bele, et al., Polydimethylsiloxane–barium titanate composites: Preparation and evaluation of the morphology, moisture, thermal,
mechanical and dielectric behavior, Compos. Part B Eng. 68, 237 (2015).
 Formation of High-εr Nanostructures
(Sol-Gel Chemistry)

Condense Gelate Precipitate

Precursor Colloid Gel Nanostructures

Solution

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 Dielectric Elastomer Actuator
Voltage OFF Voltage ON

Maxwell Stress +
Electrode Electrical
Dielectric Actuation
Elastomer
Electrode Direction
of Actuation

2   : the deformation in thickness

 
1 𝑉 : Young’s modulus of elastomer
𝑆 𝑧= 𝜀 𝜀 𝐷𝐸
𝑌 0 𝑧 ( ) : dielectric constant of vacuum
: dielectric constant of elastomer
: applied voltage
: the thickness of elastomer

Pelrine, R., et. al. High-speed electrically actuated elastomers with strain greater than 100%, Science 287, 836-839 (2000).
Biggs, J., et. al. Electroactive Polymers: Developments of and Perspectives for Dielectric Elastomers, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 52, 9409-9421 (2013).
 Formation of High-εr Nanostructures (GLAD)
Vertical Structures Slanted Structures Helical Structures Composite Structures

titania
silica

silica
silica silica

titania
silica titania
silica MgF2
silica
J. Wannenmacher, et al., Ultrathin-Layer Chromatography on SiO 2, Al2O3, TiO2, and ZrO2 Nanostructured
Thin Films. J. Chromatogr. A, 1318, 234–243 (2013).
J. B. Sorge, et al., Metal Oxide Morphology in Argon-Assisted Glancing Angle Deposition. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A, 30, 21507 (2012).
A. C. van Popta, et al., Optical Properties of Porous Helical Thin Films and the Effects of Post-Deposition Annealing. 
Proc. SPIE, 5464, 198–208 (2004). 33
Wendmans view on Nanotech, http://mark-nano.blogspot.com/2006/02/another-puzzle-this-time-thin-films.html
 Processing and Characterization

Processing (Doctor Blading)

Doctor
Blade Delaminate

Characterization (FTIR)

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 Cephalopod-Inspired Ultralow Voltage Dielectric
Elastomer Iridophores
• Reconfigurable Photonic Devices
- Iridophores and Chromatophores in Nature
- Current Cephalopod-Inspired Technologies
- Preliminary Results and Challenges
• Approach for Overcoming the Challenges
- Synthesis and Evaluation of Infrared-Transparent Active Layer Materials
- Fabrication and Evaluation of Active Layers with Embedded Nanostructures
- Construction and Characterization of Adaptive IR Camouflage Devices
• Conclusions
Biological Artificial

35
State-of-the-art in Adaptive IR Camouflage

S. A. Morin, et al., Camouflage and Display for Soft Machines, Science, 337, 828−832 (2012).
BAE Systems ADAPTIV, http://www.gizmag.com/adaptiv-ir-invisibility-cloak/19748/
 Fabrication of Adaptive IR Camouflage Devices

Infrared Reflecting
Electrode

Laminate
Active Layer

Infrared Transparent
Electrode

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Characterization of Adaptive IR Camouflage Devices

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 Cephalopod-Inspired Ultralow Voltage Dielectric
Elastomer Iridophores
• Reconfigurable Photonic Devices
- Iridophores and Chromatophores in Nature
- Current Cephalopod-Inspired Technologies
- Preliminary Results and Challenges
• Approach for Overcoming the Challenges
- Synthesis and Evaluation of Infrared-Transparent Active Layer Materials
- Fabrication and Evaluation of Active Layers with Embedded Nanostructures
- Construction and Characterization of Adaptive IR Camouflage Devices
• Conclusions
Biological Artificial

39
 Conclusions

Science Fiction (Star Trek) Natural Inspiration (Squid)

Our IR Camouflage System

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