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Cephalopods influence soft robot research

Swatches | November 1, 2025 | By:

Inspired by the color-changing ability of cephalopods such as octopi and squid, University of Nebraska–Lincoln researchers are developing a material that could one day be used in sensors and soft robotics applications. Because the stretchy “synthetic skin” is self-actuating, it wouldn’t need an external power source to make it change color or move.

Brennan Watts, a fourth-year doctoral student, looks through a microscope at a checkerboard-patterned hydrogel, with Stephen Morin, associate professor of chemistry
The color-changing ability of cephalopods inspired University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers to create an autonomous synthetic material. Brennan Watts, a fourth-year doctoral student, looks through a microscope at a checkerboard-patterned hydrogel, with Stephen Morin, associate professor of chemistry. Image: Liz McCue

“It unlocks a lot of very interesting opportunities in soft robotics, new types of human machine interfaces,” says Stephen Morin, associate professor of chemistry for the Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience.

The layered hydrogel material could be used in environmental sensors for information displays, for example, and doesn’t have to be rigid like a computer screen. Or the material could be tuned to show the presence of a specific molecule, such as a solvent.

Two hydrogel “skin” layers, here encapsulated in silicone are aligned to create a moire pattern. The image appears to have dark blue hexagons overlaying a layer of bright pink hexagons (offset) with a light blue honeycomb cell overlay, also offset.
Two hydrogel “skin” layers, here encapsulated in silicone, could be tuned to actuate in certain pH or the presence of a specific molecule, without the need for a power source. A moiré pattern is visible because of the alignment of the layers. Image: University of Nebraska–Lincoln

“You could have a wearable technology that simultaneously reports the temperature, pH, humidity, all sorts of different parameters in a given environment,” says Brennan Watts, a fourth-year doctoral student in chemistry working with Morin. “Doing that with traditional technologies, it would be challenging to measure all of those at the same time.”

More information about the material can be found in Advanced Materials, published online May 25.

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