Blue and green from black and white: structural color in a cellulose-acetate–activated-charcoal composite: During the course of developing advanced multifunctional material coatings from sustainable sources, Chitosan blended with activated charcoal, we discovered their unique optical properties when impacted with a low velocity projectile. The DoD project aims to study fundamental property correlations between polymers derived from nature such as Chotisan from mushrooms and lobsters and how multilayers of such biomaterials can provide unique mechanical, chemical and optical properties. Contributors: Dr. Justin Smith (Post-doctoral researcher, Karim research group); Dr. Alamgir Karim (Project PI)