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Eumelanin for Nature‐Inspired UV‐Absorption Enhancement of Plastics
摘要： In the human body, the black-brown biopigment eumelanin blocks the harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation. In the plastics industry, additives are often added to polymers to increase their UV-absorption properties. We herein report an assessment of the biopigment eumelanin as a nature-inspired additive for plastics to enhance their UV-absorption. Since eumelanin is produced by natural sources and is non-toxic, it is an interesting candidate in the field of sustainable plastic additives. In this work, eumelanin-including films of commercial ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), a plastic used for packaging applications, were obtained by melt-compounding and compression molding. The biopigment dispersion in the films was improved by means of the Melanin Free Acid treatment (MFA). It was observed that eumelanin amounts as low as 0.8% wt. cause an increase of the UV absorption, up to one order of magnitude in the UVA range. We also evaluated the effect of eumelanin on the thermal and photostability of the films: the biopigment proved to be double-edged, working both as UV-absorption enhancer and photo-prooxidant, as thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy revealed.
关键词： Eumelanin,Packaging,Melanin Free Acid,UV-absorbers,Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer,UV-aging
更新于2025-10-22 19:40:53
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Understanding the Role of Aggregation in the Broad Absorption Bands of Eumelanin
摘要： In this work, we investigate the relationship between the complex hierarchical assembly structure of eumelanin, its characteristic broad absorption band, and the highly unusual nonlinear dynamics revealed by pump-probe or transient absorption microscopy. Melanin-like nanoparticles (MelNPs), generated by spontaneous oxidation of dopamine, were created with uniform but adjustable size distributions, and kinetically controlled oxidation was probed with a wide range of characterization methods. This lets us explore the broad absorption bands of eumelanin models at different assembly levels, such as small subunit fractions (single monomeric and oligomeric units and small oligomer stacks), stacked oligomer fractions (protomolecules) and large-scale aggregates of protomolecules (parental particles). Both the absorption and pump-probe dynamics are very sensitive to these structural differences, or to the size of intact particles (a surprising result for an organic polymer). We show that the geometric packing order of protomolecules in long-range aggregation are key secondary interactions to extend the absorption band of eumelanin to the low energy spectrum, and produce drastic changes in the transient absorption spectrum.
关键词： broad absorption band,aggregation,geometric packing order,hierarchical assembly structure,Eumelanin
更新于2025-09-10 09:29:36
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Visible light accelerates the ultraviolet A-induced degradation of eumelanin and pheomelanin
摘要： Exposure to excess ultraviolet (UV) A radiation induces the degradation/modification of both eumelanin and pheomelanin that may be deleterious to pigmented tissues. Although the spectral distribution of solar energy comprises nearly half of visible light (VL), few studies have been conducted to examine the role of VL in the photodegradation of both types of melanin, either VL alone or in combination with UVA. In this study, we examined the effects of physiological doses of VL (150 to 300 J/cm2) alone or in combination with a physiological dose of UVA (20 J/cm2) in normal human epidermal melanocytes. The degradation/modification of melanin structures were evaluated by our chemical degradation – HPLC methods. The results show that VL accelerates UVA-induced changes in the structural features of both eumelanin and pheomelanin, although VL or UVA alone induced only minor changes in melanin structure. The differential spectral method provides support for the additive effects of VL.
关键词： visible light,eumelanin,photodegradation,pheomelanin,ultraviolet A
更新于2025-09-09 09:28:46