Science / Medicine : Possible Car Option--Pick-a-Color Switch

Imagine hitting a switch on your dashboard and instantly changing the color of your car.

A Rhode Island researcher has developed a “smart window” that might one day make the scenario possible by coating a plate of glass or other substance with a chemical that reacts to electrical current by changing its color.

Sze Cheng Yang, a chemist at the University of Rhode Island, said he uses a polyaniline dye commonly used in the textile industry and--using a technique that he does not want to disclose yet--spreads a coat of the dye on the glass 127,000ths of an inch thick.

“When you remove electrons (with the electric current), the molecules change how they kink and fold,” changing the color of the object. “When you increase the voltage further, you remove more electrons so it folds another way,” changing the color again.