| Abstract Scope |
Melanins (from the Greek μέλας, mélas, black) are bio-pigments ubiquitous in flora and fauna. Sepia melanin (Sepia) is a type of bio-sourced melanin that can readily be extracted from the ink sac of cuttlefish. Eumelanin features broadband optical absorption, metal-binding affinity, antioxidative and radical-scavenging properties. Considering its molecular features, e.g. electronic conjugation, eumelanin is a prototype of material for biodegradable organic electronics (Nat. Commun. 12, 3167 (2021)). Sepia develops hierarchically from functionalized indole building blocks and is made up of near spherical granules with diameters of about 200 nm.
We reported on electronic transport in films flexographically printed from Sepia-including formulations (PNAS, 2022, 119, p. e2200058119). In this contribution, we will discuss on a nanoscale study of Sepia granules by High Resolution Atomic Force Microscopy (HR-AFM) and Conductive-AFM (c-AFM). Our study is expected to shed light onto possible correlations between charge carrier transport in Sepia and the distance range probed. |