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IMAGE: This image shows the color change of the "chameleon skin " hydrogel-based chemosensor in response to biogenic volatile amine vapors, which are a well known indicator of fish and shrimp spoilage....
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Credit: Lu et al./Cell Reports Physical Science
Scientists in China and Germany have designed an artificial color-changing material that mimics chameleon skin, with luminogens (molecules that make crystals glow) organized into different core and shell hydrogel layers instead of one uniform matrix. The findings, published May 6 in the journal
Cell Reports Physical Science, demonstrate that a two-luminogen hydrogel chemosensor developed with this design can detect seafood freshness by changing color in response to amine vapors released by microbes as fish spoils. The material may also be used to advance the development of stretchable electronics, dynamic camouflaging robots, and anticounterfeiting technologies.