Selective colors reflection from stratified aragonite calcium carbonate plates of mollusk shells.
J Struct Biol
; 191(2): 184-9, 2015 Aug.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26101173
ABSTRACT
An interaction between the incident light and the structural architecture within the shell of Asian green mussel (Perna viridis) induces observable pearlescent colors. In this paper, we investigate the influence of the structural architecture on the expressed colors. After a removal of the organic binder, small flakes from crushed shells show vivid rainbow reflection under an optical microscope. An individual flake expresses vivid color under a bright-field illumination while become transparent under a dark-field illumination. The expressed colors of the aragonite flakes are directly associated with its structural architecture. The flakes with aragonite thickness of 256, 310, and 353 nm, respectively, appear blue, green, and red under an optical microscope. The spectral simulation corroborates the experimentally observed optical effects as the flakes with thicker aragonite layers selectively reflected color with longer wavelengths. Flakes with multiple aragonite thicknesses expressed multi-color as the upper aragonite layers allow reflected colors from the lower layers to be observed.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Carbonato de Calcio
/
Color
/
Perna
/
Exoesqueleto
Límite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Struct Biol
Asunto de la revista:
BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR
Año:
2015
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Tailandia