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A new micro-iris features 55µm thick transparent chemical rings of electrochromic polymer PEDOT (poly 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) which turn opaque when 1.5V is applied. The obvious application is in front of CCD cameras in phones but it has other applications.
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(Score: 2, Informative) by kaganar on Friday June 27 2014, @03:53PM
I was wondering that, too, so I RTFA (not my usual M.O. either) and found:
That's the cool part about it. It makes me wonder if a hybrid LCD-chemical aperture system might be released first since the chemical version turns transparent faster than it turns opaque. For example, to quickly narrow the aperture the LCD would restrict. To widen the aperture, both would grow larger which is lightining-fast in the LCD case and acceptably fast in the chemical aperture case. (Mind you, this wouldn't work now, but as they improve the speed this may be the first viable implementation.)
This makes me think of e-Ink, only transparent. However, if you're wondering why e-Ink won't work: e-Ink contains many capsules with both white and black pigments which can never actually turn transparent without significant technology changes if possible at all. (See Wikipedia [wikipedia.org].)