What’s your favorite shade of blue? Teal? Robin’s egg? Your new front-runner might be YInMn Blue, the first new blue pigment developed since cobalt blue more than 200 years ago (though cobalt blue had been employed in Chinese potteries for centuries before). This vivid hue was first made in 2009, but only recently became commercially available.
Named for three of its constituent elements — yttrium, indium and manganese — YInMn (pronounced yin-min) Blue was created accidentally in an Oregon State University lab, where chemists led by Mas Subramanian were testing electronics applications. Graduate student Andrew Smith heated manganese oxide to 1,200 degrees Celsius trying to produce a high-efficiency electronic material. In the process, however, Smith cooked up a whole new color. And Subramanian, thanks to his expertise in industry research that includes paint development, knew this was no ordinary pigment.
Pigments are vividly colored powders. Like any other substance, pigments are composed of elements. For example, indigo’s chemical composition is C16H10N2O2, with its elements in that specific ratio. YInMn Blue’s formula is YIn1-xMnxO3, but the ratio of indium to manganese can be adjusted. As that ratio changes, the pigment’s color intensity changes too. For example, YIn0.95Mn0.05O3, makes the pigment a pale, powdery blue; however, YInMnO3 is nearly black. Those decimals, by the way, don’t refer to a fraction of a single atom. Rather, they represent the constant ratio of...
Read Full Story: https://scienceline.org/2021/12/yinmn-blue-new-pigment/
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