Polymeric “Smart” Skin Materials

"Smart” skin materials based, variously, on polymers, dendrimers, carbon nanotubes, and/or other tailored molecular components are being developed for use as conformal coating surfaces of mechanical structures, including those of aircraft, to impart enhanced functionality to the coated surfaces. As used here, “smart” signifies that a material so characterized exhibits a useful physical response (e.g., a change in color) to a change in some aspect of its environment (e.g., temperature or pressure) or to a control or actuation signal. It is envisioned that smart skin materials could be used for diverse purposes, including sensing surface flow conditions and altering surface optical properties to enable detection, concealment, or display. It is further envisioned that smart skin materials could be integrated with microscopic electronic, optoelectronic, electro-optical, and microelectromechanical devices to obtain smart skins exhibiting even more varieties and higher degrees of functionality.