Microfiber contains color as anti-counterfeiting tool

MIT scientists have developed a micro-chip with color bands that can be used to test the authenticity of currencies, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, and virtually everything that needs to be protected. before the counterfeiting.

These polymer particles are about 200 microns long (about the width of a human hair) and can be spread across a variety of materials. Each seed contains up to six color bands and strips of color are made from nanocrystals. Each color is determined by a combination of crystals with elements such as Ytterbium, Gadolinium, Erbium and Thulium.

Although the size of the grain is too small to be seen with the naked eye, a smartphone with a camera with 20x optical zoom can detect it. In addition, the colors of the nanocrystals can not be determined in the natural light, but they will glow when exposed to near infrared light.

The idea here is that a series of beads can be used to mark a certain product and each of the beads in the chain will contain the specific color combinations. If there are 6 strips of color per grain, you can create strips of 9 colors and create color combinations on the grain to assign to the product. By using multiple beads carrying different colors for a product, the number of combinations will increase dramatically, and according to MIT, using a set of 10 beads, you can "mark each grain of sand on Earth. "

Shops or consumers can then use smartphones with magnifying glass and near-infrared light to scan the particles on the product, so that the color code on the product can be identified as true or false. However, the solution remains skeptical of the safety of counterfeiters who can copy the microphones themselves to the eye.

According to MIT, the grain is easy to produce with excellent resistance to extreme temperatures, sunlight and abrasive wear. As well as being able to be applied to product surfaces, the micro-beads can also be integrated directly into a 3D printed item or embedded in the ink.