Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Structure and Optical Anisotropy of Spider Scales and Silk: Use of Chromaticity and Azimuth Colors

Denver P Linklater
,
Arturas Vailionis
,
Meguya Ryu
ORCID logo ,
Shuji Kamegaki
ORCID logo ,
Junko Morikawa
,
Haoran Mu
ORCID logo ,
Daniel Smith
,
Pegah Maasoumi
,
Rohan Ford
,
Tomas Katkus
,
Sean Blamires
ORCID logo ,
Toshiaki Kondo
,
Yoshiaki Nishijima
,
Daniel Moraru
ORCID logo ,
Michael Shribak
ORCID logo ,
Andrea O’Connor
,
Elena Ivanova
,
Soon Ng
ORCID logo ,
Masuda Hideki
,
Saulius Juodkazis
*
Version 1 : Received: 27 April 2023 / Approved: 4 May 2023 / Online: 4 May 2023 (09:13:26 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Linklater, D.; Vailionis, A.; Ryu, M.; Kamegaki, S.; Morikawa, J.; Mu, H.; Smith, D.; Maasoumi, P.; Ford, R.; Katkus, T.; Blamires, S.; Kondo, T.; Nishijima, Y.; Moraru, D.; Shribak, M.; O’Connor, A.; Ivanova, E.P.; Ng, S.H.; Masuda, H.; Juodkazis, S. Structure and Optical Anisotropy of Spider Scales and Silk: The Use of Chromaticity and Azimuth Colors to Optically Characterize Complex Biological Structures. Nanomaterials 2023, 13, 1894. Linklater, D.; Vailionis, A.; Ryu, M.; Kamegaki, S.; Morikawa, J.; Mu, H.; Smith, D.; Maasoumi, P.; Ford, R.; Katkus, T.; Blamires, S.; Kondo, T.; Nishijima, Y.; Moraru, D.; Shribak, M.; O’Connor, A.; Ivanova, E.P.; Ng, S.H.; Masuda, H.; Juodkazis, S. Structure and Optical Anisotropy of Spider Scales and Silk: The Use of Chromaticity and Azimuth Colors to Optically Characterize Complex Biological Structures. Nanomaterials 2023, 13, 1894.

Abstract

In this perspective, we give an overview of several less explored structural and optical characterisation techniques useful for biomaterials. New insights into the structure of natural fibres such as spider silk can be gained with minimal sample preparation. Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) over a broad range of wavelengths (from X-ray to THz) provides information of the structure of the material at cor- respondingly different length scales (nm-to-mm). When the sample features, such as the alignment of certain fibres, cannot be characterised optically, polarisation analysis of the optical images can provide further information on feature alignment. The 3D complexity of biological samples necessitates that there be feature measure- ments and characterisation over a large range of length scales. We discuss the issue of characterising complex shapes by analysis of the link between the color and struc- ture of spider scales and silk. For example, it is shown that the green-blue color of a spider scale is dominated by the chitin slab’s Fabry-P ́erot type reflectivity rather than the surface nanostructure. The use of a chromaticity plot simplifies complex spectra and enables quantification of the apparent colors. All the experimental data presented herein are used to support the discussion on the structure-color link in the characterisation of materials.

Keywords

Anisotropy; polarisation analysis; Stokes parameters; polarimetry

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Biophysics

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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