How is this possible? According to the Saint Louis Zoo, The Blue Morpho Butterflies have tiny, overlapping scales covering their wings similar to roof shingles. The iridescent blue color comes from the scales on their wing tops, which have tiny ridges that reflect blue light.
These luminous Blue Morpho butterflies were the inspiration for Morphotex fibers. Kathy Witkowsky, author of the article "Replicating Success", stated that in 2000, Nissan incorporated the structural-color fiber Morphotex into the front seats of the Silvia Convertible Varietta.
Nissan, the engineering-design firm Teijin Limited, and Kawashima Textile Manufacturers jointly developed Morphotex. The material is made to shimmer through the arrangement in polyester and nylon as well as varying thickness of the fibers, even though the fibers themselves have no color. According to Teijin Fibers Limited, because there is no dye used, less energy is used and the material is recyclable without the by-product of contaminated liquid waste.
As stated in Teijinfiber.com, “[Morphotex's] colors change according to the strength and angle of light which creates an elegant texture and gloss with transparency as if they were taken out from the rainbow.” Morphotex can be used for textiles, interior materials, and the fabric can show blue, red, purple, and green depending on how the light shines on it.
