Novel ceramic pigments: vibrant colours, stable and ecological

© David Clode on Unsplash

Ceramic pigments are widely used, usually as fine particles, as colourings for paint, plastics, and other materials. However there still is strong demand for pigments with high brilliancy that are also inexpensive, resistant to light and heat, non-toxic and environmentally friendly.

Prof. Dr Martin Jansen of the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart and his team have developed novel apatite-type compounds where copper ions in different concentrations and chemical states create brilliant colours ranging from dark brown to blue-violet and red-violet. The pigments are stable up to 1,000 °C, environmentally friendly, inexpensive to manufacture and suitable for colouring plastics, paints, cement, plaster, etc.

Go back