Sep 23, 2020 07:00:00

Why are the blue feathers of peacocks 'the most vibrant colors in nature'?

Research teams such as Gianni Jacucci, a physicist at the University of Cambridge, report the reason why there are many blues and greens in the

structural color that is the mechanism of color development of colorful creatures such as peacocks, jewel beetles, and morpho butterflies. ..

The limitations of extending nature's color palette in correlated, disordered systems | PNAS
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/09/04/2010486117

Why blue and green are the brightest colors in nature
https://www.zmescience.com/science/why-blue-and-green-are-the-brightest-colors-in-nature/

Structural color means the color development that occurs when light interferes with the structure of the surface of a substance, even though the substance itself has no color. For example, the structural color found in peacock feathers is due to tiny twigs, and the structural color of morpho butterflies is emitted by scales. Light is reflected by the complex nanoscale patterns on the surface of the body, resulting in different structural colors for each organism.

The research team of Jacuzzi et al. Conducted a numerical experiment using a structural color model on a PC to evaluate the range of 'matte colors' in structural colors. As a result, the dull structural color existed only from blue to green in visible light.

'Most of the glossy structural colors that exist in nature are iridescent, but matte structural colors exist only in the range of blue to green. Matte red and orange are artificially used as structural colors. When I tried to reproduce it, I got poor results in both saturation and color purity, 'said Lucas Sheltel, one of the research teams. As a result, there is no 'brilliant red' or 'brilliant orange' among the matte structural colors, and blue and green are developed as the most vivid shades.

Research on structural colors will be useful for the development of new paints. The principle of structural color itself has been put to practical use in car paints, etc. For example, in 2018, the automobile '

Structural Blue ' that applied the structural color of Morpho butterfly appeared from the automobile brand Lexus developed by Toyota Motor Corporation. ..

Further research on structural colors will lead to the practical application of paints that are naturally harmless and resistant to fading, said the research team of Mr. Jacucci and others, and Mr. Jacucci said, 'Paints that apply structural colors have strength and fading resistance. It's specialized and doesn't require harmful substances, so it's environmentally friendly. '