By Happy Accident, Chemists Produce a New Blue
Blue is sometimes not an easy color to make. Blue pigments of the past have often been expensive (ultramarine blue was made from the gemstone lapis lazuli, ground up), poisonous (cobalt blue is a possible carcinogen and Prussian blue, another well-known pigment, can leach cyanide) or apt to fade (many of the organic ones fall apart when exposed to acid or heat). So it was a pleasant surprise to chemists at Oregon State University when they created a new, durable and brilliantly blue pigment by accident. The researchers were trying to make compounds with novel electronic properties, mixing manganese oxide,...
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Tags: Blue Pigment, Blue Pigments, Carcinogen, Chemists, Cobalt Blue, Compounds, Electronic Properties, Gemstone, Happy Accident, Leach, Manganese Oxide, Oregon State University, Prussian Blue, Surprise, Ultramarine Blue