(May 14, 2015) A wide range of pure colors created by nanoscale arrangement
of synthetic melanin.
Inspired by the way iridescent bird feathers play with
light, scientists have created thin films of material in a wide range of pure
colors — from red to green — with hues determined by physical structure rather
than pigments.
Structural color arises from the interaction of light with
materials that have patterns on a minute scale, which bend and reflect light to
amplify some wavelengths and dampen others. Melanosomes, tiny packets of
melanin found in the feathers, skin and fur of many animals, can produce
structural color when packed into solid layers, as they are in the feathers of
some birds.