| Solar energy harvesting in the epicuticle of the oriental hornet (Vespa orientalis). | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 21052618 Owner: NLM Status: In-Process |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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The Oriental hornet worker correlates its digging activity with solar insolation. Solar radiation passes through the epicuticle, which exhibits a grating-like structure, and continues to pass through layers of the exo-endocuticle until it is absorbed by the pigment melanin in the brown-colored cuticle or xanthopterin in the yellow-colored cuticle. The correlation between digging activity and the ability of the cuticle to absorb part of the solar radiation implies that the Oriental hornet may harvest parts of the solar radiation. In this study, we explore this intriguing possibility by analyzing the biophysical properties of the cuticle. We use rigorous coupled wave analysis simulations to show that the cuticle surfaces are structured to reduced reflectance and act as diffraction gratings to trap light and increase the amount absorbed in the cuticle. A dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) was constructed in order to show the ability of xanthopterin to serve as a light-harvesting molecule. |
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Authors:
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Marian Plotkin; Idan Hod; Arie Zaban; Stuart A Boden; Darren M Bagnall; Dmitry Galushko; David J Bergman |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article Date: 2010-10-29 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Die Naturwissenschaften Volume: 97 ISSN: 1432-1904 ISO Abbreviation: Naturwissenschaften Publication Date: 2010 Dec |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2010-11-24 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 0400767 Medline TA: Naturwissenschaften Country: Germany |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 1067-76 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine Tel-Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, 69978, Israel. marianpl@post.tau.ac.il |
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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