Quantitative scattering of melanin solutions

Abstract

The optical scattering coefficient of a dilute, well solubilised eumelanin solution has been accurately measured as a function of incident wavelength, and found to contribute less than 6% of the total optical attenuation between 210 and 325nm. At longer wavelengths (325nm to 800nm) the scattering was less than the minimum sensitivity of our instrument. This indicates that UV and visible optical density spectra can be interpreted as true absorption with a high degree of confidence. The scattering coefficient vs wavelength was found to be consistent with Rayleigh Theory for a particle radius of 38+-1nm.

23 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (6)

• Towards Structure-Property-Function Relationships for Eumelanin
• A First Principles Density-Functional Calculation of the Electronic and Vibrational Structure of the Key Melanin Monomers
• A Quantum Yield Map for Synthetic Eumelanin
• Quantitative photoluminescence of broad band absorbing melanins: A procedure to correct for inner filter and re-absorption effects
• 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid (DHICA): a First Principles Density-Functional Study
• Radiative Relaxation Quantum Yields for Synthetic Eumelanin