The new material, called Self-Adaptive Photochromism (SAP), can reportedly change color in response to its surroundings — much like a chameleon — making the wearer “effectively invisible” when applied to clothing.

Unlike current man-made active camouflage systems that possess many limitations — such as the need for electronic components that can lead to complicated structures, poor usability and high cost — the new SAP materials are reportedly simpler, more user-friendly and less expensive.

Making this possible is the SAP’s molecular structure, which exhibits color change under ambient light conditions. In response to exposure to specific wavelengths of light, the molecules rearrange themselves, thereby triggering a color change in the material.

The new materials are composed of a combination of donor-acceptor Stenhouse adducts (DASAs) and organic dyes that imbue the material with the ability to achieve color-changing properties.

“The SAP materials are in the primary black state under dark and spontaneously switch to another color upon triggering by transmitted and reflected light in the background,” the researchers revealed.

Experiments to demonstrate the capabilities of the SAP materials were conducted with the first involving a transparent container of SAP solution being placed in colored acrylic boxes (red, green, yellow and black). The researchers reported that the SAP solution changed color to match the color of the surrounding acrylic box.

Further, the team applied its SAP technology to coatings by combining SAP materials with polycaprolactone (PCL) to form flexible films and coatings that can be applied to any surfaces, making even solid surfaces capable of adaptive camouflage.

The team is eyeing the materials for military camouflage systems, architecture and fashion applications.

An article detailing the findings, “Self-adaptive photochromism,” appears in the journal Science Advances.