Why do scientists spend years and millions of dollars creating dyes - ForumDaily
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Why do scientists spend years and millions of dollars to create dyes

Pigment researcher Masa Subramanian was able to get all the colors of the rainbow except one - red. The abstract of the article about the discovery of the researcher published VC.ru.

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Subramanian, a professor of materials science at the University of Oregon at Corvallis, has been researching pigments for nine years, although earlier, like many colleagues, he believed that this area of ​​chemistry is not at the forefront.

Subramanian became famous after an accidental invention. In 2009, he created a new pigment - a substance that can transfer color to another material. YInMn Blue is a mixture of yttrium (Y), indium (In) and manganese (Mn). YInMn is the first blue pigment created in the last 200 years.

It is not only a matter of the exotic color, but also the shades that can be created on the basis of this pigment. By adding copper, you can get green; iron - orange. However, the red color to get so far failed.

Today, there are more than 200 natural and synthetic pigments of red color, but all of them have problems with security, stability, saturation, and opacity. The 254 red pigment (also known as “Ferrari red”), for example, is safe and popular, but it is carbon-based and therefore fades in the sun and in the rain.

There is a steady, non-toxic and durable pigment of red color: it was used in the drawings found in the Paleolithic caves. However, it is not bright enough.

The new pigment can be a source of income, calculated annually by millions of dollars, for various industries: from the production of plastic to cosmetics and the automotive industry. For example, the most commercially successful blue pigment — phthalocyanine — is used in the manufacture of eye shadow, hair gels, and even the wagons of British trains.

However, YInMn has not yet brought wealth to its creator. The pigment must be approved by different authorities, it must be put into production - and only after that it will be able to enter the market. In the meantime, Subramanian is looking for a derivative from YInMn, which will help create a new red pigment and replace the “red Ferrari”, which generates revenue of $ 300 million per year.

Colors are a visual sensation of light that is refracted, scattered or reflected from the atoms of an object. Modern computers can display about 16,8 million colors, much more than the human eye can distinguish or print a printer. In order for a digital or imaginary color to become tangible, a pigment is needed. However, the problem is that not every pigment is suitable for all materials.

This fact imposes restrictions on the variety of pigments available for various industries. For example, titanium dioxide is used to produce two-thirds of modern pigments. This industry is estimated at approximately $ 13,2 billion. The whiteness of the lines on the roads, toothpaste and powdered sugar on donuts is a merit of titanium dioxide.

To obtain other colors, it was always necessary to use hazardous inorganic elements or compounds: lead, cobalt, or even cyanide. In recent years, thanks to regulations governing health and environmental conditions, manufacturers have been forced to use safer organic pigments. This leads to the discovery of new pigments of black, yellow, green colors. But blue is a separate story.

Subramanian was not looking for a new pigment. He and a group of researchers were looking for multiferroics, materials with electrical and magnetic properties that can be used in computers. By mixing different substances and heating the resulting mixture, the scientists obtained an unusual blue chemical.

Shades of blue are often found in nature, but this color is difficult to recreate a person. For example, during the Renaissance, ultramarine could be more expensive than gold, and modern synthetic pigment (Prussian blue) was only discovered at the beginning of the 18 century by a German chemist who tried to create a red pigment.

Subramanian and colleagues began testing the compound: they found that it does not dissolve in acid, is not inert, stable and non-toxic. The new pigment was superior to other blue pigments in different indicators. It turned out that YInMn also has heat-reflecting properties.

Subramanian published a study that described the properties of YInMn, and patented his invention. This study caught the attention of different companies.

According to Ceresana, the market analysis organization, pigments are an industry valued at $ 30 billion. It is headed by such giants as Lanxess, BASF, Venator and Chemours. Highly effective pigments - the most saturated, stable and durable - a rapidly growing market segment. Demand is growing, as manufacturers gradually abandon pigments created on the basis of lead.

A safe, durable, eco-friendly blue color should be incredibly profitable. This color is used in brands such as IKEA, Ford, Walmart and Facebook. Blue is everywhere.

The companies that called Subramanian plan to use YInMn for different purposes. HP representatives wanted to know if this color could be used in ink. Chanel was interested in its cosmetic properties. Merck asked about skin care. Nike was curious about whether YInMn could be used in leather sneakers for cooling feet.

Pigment sellers were also interested. Shepherd Color Company obtained a license to use the patent in 2015. Last September, eight years after the invention of YInMn, the US Environmental Protection Agency approved the sale of YInMn for the production of industrial coatings and plastics. Shepherd quickly entered the market with a new product. However, this market is limited due to the high price of YInMn, which contains indium.

A high price does not mean much revenue. Application of YInMn in other industries and lowering prices are possible only after researchers find a way to replace indium without reducing the saturation of the blue.

Although Subramanian did not receive money from his patent, YInMn breathed new strength into his career. His patent is not only blue pigment. The present invention of Subramanyana is the crystal structure of a material having a trigonal bipyramidal atomic model.

Manganese gives the substance a bluish tint: depending on its amount in the compound, you can make the shade lighter or darker. But it is clear from Subramanian’s experiments that the structure can also absorb (and reflect) other colors. This opening is like a secret door in the closet.

At first, the researchers thought that reducing indium would help to get a red pigment. However, it was not so easy. Changing the distance between atoms can, for example, cause the material to turn gray.

The new red pigment can be cheaper by reducing the content of indium or replacing it with another substance. At the end of the 1990, the Germans explored to create one of the most promising red pigments in recent decades.

However, demand and price differed so much that all hopes fell. The red pigment contains environmentally harmful cadmium, which German scientists have tried to replace with perovskite (a rare and, therefore, expensive mineral), so the new pigment never entered the market.

Subramanian faces the challenge of creating a pigment that does not contain cadmium, synthetic dyes and carmine, which is obtained from crushed insects. Although red is not as common as blue, it is associated with courage, seduction and joy, therefore it is considered a commercially significant color throughout the world. Red cars make up only 8% of the total number of cars, but this color prevails in expensive sports cars.

As for the study of pigments, the difficulty lies in the fact that even after the most scrupulous and meticulously thought-out plan it is impossible to predict what will be the result. Searching for multiferroics, Subramanian found a new pigment. Perhaps, in search of red pigment, he will find a new multiferroic.

 

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