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Melanin synthesis under oxygen pressure
Author(s) -
BronzeUhle Erika Soares,
Paulin João Vitor,
PiacentiSilva Marina,
Battocchio Chiara,
Rocco Maria Luiza Miranda,
Graeff Carlos Frederico de Oliveira
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
polymer international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-0126
pISSN - 0959-8103
DOI - 10.1002/pi.5185
Subject(s) - melanin , oxygen , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , bioelectronics , polymer , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , materials science , infrared spectroscopy , homogeneity (statistics) , chemistry , chemical structure , oxygen pressure , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , nanotechnology , computer science , biosensor , biochemistry , machine learning , engineering
Abstract Melanins are promising materials for organic bioelectronics devices like transistors, sensors and batteries. In this study, the chemical structural changes of melanin synthesized by the auto‐oxidation of l ‐3,4‐dihydroxyphenylalanine ( l ‐ DOPA ) were analyzed for a new synthetic procedure that uses oxygen under pressure (4−8 atm). TEM , dynamic light scattering, Fourier transform IR , NMR and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterize the material. Under oxygen pressure, melanin synthesis is accelerated; the polymer obtained is found to have structural differences, most notably a higher number of carbonyl groups and different surface charges compared to conventional synthetic melanin. As a consequence it has higher homogeneity and is soluble in water. To explain these findings a reaction mechanism is proposed based on current melanogenesis models. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry