Fluorescent protein senses and reports mechanical damage in glass-fiber-reinforced polymer composites.

Yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) is used as a mechanoresponsive layer at the fiber/resin interface in glass-fiber-reinforced composites. The protein loses its fluorescence when subjected to mechanical stress. Within the material, it reports interfacial shear debonding and barely visible impact damage by a transition from a fluorescent to a non-fluorescent state.