Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Meng S
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2567931 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Meng Sheng S Kaxiras Efthimios E
Biophysical journal 20080801 9
We investigate the relaxation dynamics of melanin model constituents including monomers, dimers, and tetramers, upon excitation, using state-of-the-art, time-dependent, density functional theory calculations. The results explain the ability of these molecules to transform photon energy into thermal energy in a remarkably short timescale of approximately 100 fs. We find that after electronic excitation by light absorption, ultrafast energy conversion takes place through two novel mechanisms: prot ...[more]