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Melanin, the What, the Why and the How: An Introductory Review for Materials Scientists Interested in Flexible and Versatile Polymers
Polymers, Volume: 13, Issue: 10, Start page: 1670
Swansea University Author:
Bernard Mostert
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DOI (Published version): 10.3390/polym13101670
Abstract
Today, western society is facing challenges to create new medical technologies to service an aging population as well as the ever-increasing e-waste of electronic devices and sensors. A key solution to these challenges will be the use of biomaterials and biomimetic systems. One material that has bee...
| Published in: | Polymers |
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| ISSN: | 2073-4360 |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64648 |
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| Abstract: |
Today, western society is facing challenges to create new medical technologies to service an aging population as well as the ever-increasing e-waste of electronic devices and sensors. A key solution to these challenges will be the use of biomaterials and biomimetic systems. One material that has been receiving serious attention for its biomedical and device applications is eumelanin. Eumelanin, or commonly known as melanin, is nature’s brown-black pigment and is a poly-indolequinone biopolymer, which possess unique physical and chemical properties for material applications. Presented here is a review, aimed at polymer and other materials scientists, to introduce eumelanin as a potential material for research. Covered here are the chemical and physical structures of melanin, an overview of its unique physical and chemical properties, as well as a wide array of applications, but with an emphasis on device and sensing applications. The review is then finished by introducing interested readers to novel synthetic protocols and post synthesis fabrication techniques to enable a starting point for polymer research in this intriguing and complex material. |
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| Keywords: |
Eumelanin; bio-macromolecule; polymer; poly-indolequinone; biomimetic |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Funders: |
A.B.M. is a Sêr Cymru II fellow and the results incorporated in this work are supported by the Welsh Government through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 663830. |
| Issue: |
10 |
| Start Page: |
1670 |