Tsukuba, Japan, Jan 26, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - Melanin-like compounds can be precisely designed and arranged to colour materials using a mechanism similar to that found in a peacock's feathers. Chemist Michinari Kohri of Chiba University in Japan reviewed the latest research on these 'melanin-mimetic materials' and their potential applications for the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials.Scientists are developing materials inspired by the structural colours in a peacock's feathers. (Credit: Takashi Tsujino)Melanin and melanin-like compounds absorb some of the light that is scattered from the microstructures within materials. Scientists are finding ways to control this phenomenon to give a variety of iridescent and non-iridescent colours. (Credit: Michinari Kohri)Melanin is a dark pigment that gives hair and skin its colour. It is also essential for the bright colours we see in some organisms. When light interacts with the structures of feathers, wings and shells of many organisms, like peacocks, butterflies and jewel beetles, it is scattered, appearing white. But when melanin is interspersed within these structures, some of the scattered light is absorbed, producin...