title: Selective colors reflection from stratified aragonite calcium carbonate plates of mollusk shells.
abstract: An interaction between the incident light and the structural architecture within the shell of Asian green mussel (Perna viridis) induces observable pearlescent colors. In this paper, we investigate the influence of the structural architecture on the expressed colors. After a removal of the organic binder, small flakes from crushed shells show vivid rainbow reflection under an optical microscope. An individual flake expresses vivid color under a bright-field illumination while become transparent under a dark-field illumination. The expressed colors of the aragonite flakes are directly associated with its structural architecture. The flakes with aragonite thickness of 256, 310, and 353 nm, respectively, appear blue, green, and red under an optical microscope. The spectral simulation corroborates the experimentally observed optical effects as the flakes with thicker aragonite layers selectively reflected color with longer wavelengths. Flakes with multiple aragonite thicknesses expressed multi-color as the upper aragonite layers allow reflected colors from the lower layers to be observed.
authors.affiliation: Sensor Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
authors.forename: Chutiparn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lertvachirapaiboon
authors.affiliation: Sensor Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
authors.forename: Tewarak
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Parnklang
authors.affiliation: Sensor Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
authors.forename: Prompong
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pienpinijtham
authors.affiliation: Sensor Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
authors.forename: Kanet
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wongravee
authors.affiliation: Sensor Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
authors.forename: Chuchaat
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thammacharoen
authors.affiliation: Sensor Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand. Electronic address: sanong.e@chula.ac.th.
authors.forename: Sanong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ekgasit
mesh_terms: D060105:Animal Shells / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D000818:Animals; D002119:Calcium Carbonate / Q000737:chemistry*; D003116:Color; D008027:Light; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D049883:Perna / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D002119:Calcium Carbonate
keywords: Aragonite calcium carbonate; Color-selective reflection; Pearlescent flake; Structural colors