Journal
POLYMER INTERNATIONAL
Volume 65, Issue 11, Pages 1339-1346Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/pi.5185
Keywords
melanin; oxygen pressure; solubility; accelerated synthesis
Categories
Funding
- FINEP CT-INFRA
- CAPES
- FAPESP
- CNPq [FAPESP 2013/07296-2, 2008/57872-1, 573636/2008-7]
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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. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry
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