Melanin pigmented solar absorbing surfaces

Conference · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1980 · Proc. Annu. Meet. - Am. Sect. Int. Sol. Energy Soc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6481604

Gallas, J M; Eisner, M

Selectivity enhancement is shown to result for melanin, a black biopolymer pigment, for sufficiently low sample density. The effect is proposed to follow from a consideration of the evanescent waves associated with the total internal reflection phenomenon. A relationship is discussed among powder density, pH and the paramagnetic properties of melanin; this relationship is shown to be consistent with, and offer support to an amino-acid side group proposed earlier as part of the melanin structure. A brief discussion is also presented on the optical properties of melanin and the relative importance of quinhydrone, a change transfer complex believed to exist in the polymeric structure of melanin.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Houston, TX
• OSTI ID: 6481604
• Report Number(s): CONF-800604-P3
• Journal Information: Proc. Annu. Meet. - Am. Sect. Int. Sol. Energy Soc.; (United States), Vol. 3.2; Conference: American section of the International Solar Energy Society conference, Phoenix, AZ, USA, 2 Jun 1980
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
MELANIN
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
SOLAR ABSORBERS
SPECTRALLY SELECTIVE SURFACES
DENSITY
INFRARED RADIATION
PH VALUE
PRESSURE DEPENDENCE
QUINHYDRONE
REFLECTION
AROMATICS
BENZOQUINONES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
EQUIPMENT
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PIGMENTS
QUINONES
RADIATIONS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SURFACES
141000* - Solar Collectors & Concentrators