Spatially modulated structural colour in bird feathers
Abstract Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius) feathers display periodic variations in the reflected colour from white through light blue, dark blue and black. We find the structures responsible for the colour are continuous in their size and spatially controlled by the degree of spinodal phase separat...
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Nature Portfolio
2015-12-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/srep18317 |
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| author | Andrew J. Parnell Adam L. Washington Oleksandr O. Mykhaylyk Christopher J. Hill Antonino Bianco Stephanie L. Burg Andrew J. C. Dennison Mary Snape Ashley J. Cadby Andrew Smith Sylvain Prevost David M. Whittaker Richard A. L. Jones J. Patrick. A. Fairclough Andrew R. Parker |
| author_facet | Andrew J. Parnell Adam L. Washington Oleksandr O. Mykhaylyk Christopher J. Hill Antonino Bianco Stephanie L. Burg Andrew J. C. Dennison Mary Snape Ashley J. Cadby Andrew Smith Sylvain Prevost David M. Whittaker Richard A. L. Jones J. Patrick. A. Fairclough Andrew R. Parker |
| author_sort | Andrew J. Parnell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius) feathers display periodic variations in the reflected colour from white through light blue, dark blue and black. We find the structures responsible for the colour are continuous in their size and spatially controlled by the degree of spinodal phase separation in the corresponding region of the feather barb. Blue structures have a well-defined broadband ultra-violet (UV) to blue wavelength distribution; the corresponding nanostructure has characteristic spinodal morphology with a lengthscale of order 150 nm. White regions have a larger 200 nm nanostructure, consistent with a spinodal process that has coarsened further, yielding broader wavelength white reflectance. Our analysis shows that nanostructure in single bird feather barbs can be varied continuously by controlling the time the keratin network is allowed to phase separate before mobility in the system is arrested. Dynamic scaling analysis of the single barb scattering data implies that the phase separation arrest mechanism is rapid and also distinct from the spinodal phase separation mechanism i.e. it is not gelation or intermolecular re-association. Any growing lengthscale using this spinodal phase separation approach must first traverse the UV and blue wavelength regions, growing the structure by coarsening, resulting in a broad distribution of domain sizes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ab2489410b0c4155ae3f79dcb4142e30 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2015-12-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-ab2489410b0c4155ae3f79dcb4142e302025-02-02T12:25:41ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222015-12-015111010.1038/srep18317Spatially modulated structural colour in bird feathersAndrew J. Parnell0Adam L. Washington1Oleksandr O. Mykhaylyk2Christopher J. Hill3Antonino Bianco4Stephanie L. Burg5Andrew J. C. Dennison6Mary Snape7Ashley J. Cadby8Andrew Smith9Sylvain Prevost10David M. Whittaker11Richard A. L. Jones12J. Patrick. A. Fairclough13Andrew R. Parker14Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of SheffieldDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, The University of SheffieldDepartment of Chemistry, The University of SheffieldDepartment of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, The University of SheffieldDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, The University of SheffieldDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, The University of SheffieldUniversity Grenoble-Alpes, IBSDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, The University of SheffieldDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, The University of SheffieldBeamline I22 Diamond Light SourceID02 Beamline, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF)Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of SheffieldDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, The University of SheffieldDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, The University of SheffieldDepartment of Zoology, Natural History MuseumAbstract Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius) feathers display periodic variations in the reflected colour from white through light blue, dark blue and black. We find the structures responsible for the colour are continuous in their size and spatially controlled by the degree of spinodal phase separation in the corresponding region of the feather barb. Blue structures have a well-defined broadband ultra-violet (UV) to blue wavelength distribution; the corresponding nanostructure has characteristic spinodal morphology with a lengthscale of order 150 nm. White regions have a larger 200 nm nanostructure, consistent with a spinodal process that has coarsened further, yielding broader wavelength white reflectance. Our analysis shows that nanostructure in single bird feather barbs can be varied continuously by controlling the time the keratin network is allowed to phase separate before mobility in the system is arrested. Dynamic scaling analysis of the single barb scattering data implies that the phase separation arrest mechanism is rapid and also distinct from the spinodal phase separation mechanism i.e. it is not gelation or intermolecular re-association. Any growing lengthscale using this spinodal phase separation approach must first traverse the UV and blue wavelength regions, growing the structure by coarsening, resulting in a broad distribution of domain sizes.https://doi.org/10.1038/srep18317 |
| spellingShingle | Andrew J. Parnell Adam L. Washington Oleksandr O. Mykhaylyk Christopher J. Hill Antonino Bianco Stephanie L. Burg Andrew J. C. Dennison Mary Snape Ashley J. Cadby Andrew Smith Sylvain Prevost David M. Whittaker Richard A. L. Jones J. Patrick. A. Fairclough Andrew R. Parker Spatially modulated structural colour in bird feathers Scientific Reports |
| title | Spatially modulated structural colour in bird feathers |
| title_full | Spatially modulated structural colour in bird feathers |
| title_fullStr | Spatially modulated structural colour in bird feathers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatially modulated structural colour in bird feathers |
| title_short | Spatially modulated structural colour in bird feathers |
| title_sort | spatially modulated structural colour in bird feathers |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/srep18317 |
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