We present a thoroughgoing
electron paramagnetic resonance investigation
of polydopamine (PDA) radicals using multiple electron paramagnetic
resonance techniques at the W-band (94 GHz), electron nuclear double
resonance at the Q-band (34 GHz), spin relaxation, and continuous
wave measurements at the X-band (9 GHz). The analysis proves the existence
of two distinct paramagnetic species in the PDA structure. One of
the two radical species is characterized by a long spin–lattice
T
1
relaxation time equal to 46.9 ms at 5 K and is assigned
to the radical center on oxygen. The obtained data revealed that the
paramagnetic species exhibit different electron spin relaxation behaviors
due to different couplings to local phonons, which confirm spatial
distancing between two radical types. Our results shed new light on
the radical structure of PDA, which is of great importance in the
application of PDA in materials science and biomedicine and allows
us to better understand the properties of these materials and predict
their future applications.