Designer Sunny Lustov designed cooling underwater structures to safeguard coral reefs from the escalating threat of rising temperatures, made of biocompatible hydrogel.

Called NEREID, like the sea nymphs in Greek mythology, the hydrogel structures are made of a thermoresponsive, biocompatible hydrogel called NIPA. When temperatures rise, the material absorbs the heat, turns white and shrinks.

The hydrogel cools the coral reefs in two ways. Firstly, the active cooling of the gel itself, as each gram of NIPA can cool down 10 grams of water by up to 1 degree Celsius. Secondly, due to the gel’s transformative nature, the structures are designed in such a way that they fold to encapsulate water within the gel sheets during each phase change. This strategic folding amplifies the cooling impact by creating a responsive geometry.

While the assembly of each NEREID takes place on a boat now and requires manual deployment, in the future Lustov envisions the manufacturing of the structures through autonomous 3D printing underwater.

Images: Sunny Lustov