EAGER: Discovery of Next Generation Durable Non-toxic Inorganic Red Pigments

第1部分。颜色在我们的生活和我们对周围环境的反应中起着至关重要的作用。无机彩色颜料用于油漆、玻璃、陶瓷和塑料中产生颜色。然而，世界上从来没有一种真正安全耐用的无机红色颜料。目前已知的无机红色颜料含有镉、汞或铅等有毒金属。在环境法律的推动下，这些红色颜料必须被替换，而发现一种安全耐用的亮红色颜料是着色剂生产公司的圣杯。该材料化学项目由美国国家科学基金会材料研究部固态和材料化学项目支持，其中心主题是发现基于过渡金属氧化物的下一代耐用无毒的亮红色无机颜料及其衍生物，可用于艺术家颜色，工业油漆和其他涂层技术。该项目对固态材料化学领域的研究生和本科生的教育和研究训练有重要的贡献。参与该项目的高中生获得宝贵的实践研究经验，并学习STEM学科的高等教育和职业道路。新材料是新现象和新技术的驱动力。设计出具有优异色彩性能的新材料是一项重大的科学挑战，对它的追求将为新的色彩技术提供基础，并彻底改变我们的社会。第2部分。技术摘要：这项探索性研究由美国国家科学基金会材料研究部固态与材料化学项目支持，旨在发现新的稳定的鲜红色无机材料，可以用作红色颜料。重点是发现具有不同寻常结构特征的复杂无机材料。无机功能材料中过渡金属阳离子的常见配位是四面体和八面体。具有三角形双锥体配位的阳离子的过渡金属氧化物很少见，但最近发现可以产生颜色鲜艳的蓝色氧化物，作为颜料具有相当大的科学和商业价值；我是蓝色的。通过了解各种复杂无机氧化物中三角双锥体阳离子的晶体结构-光学性质关系，研究人员设计了新的具有红色发色团的过渡金属氧化物（例如铬），可以开发成商业上可行的红色颜料。该项目还探索了新型混合氧化物、含氧氟化物和含孤对电子阳离子的氧硫化物，其中锡5s或铋6s带位于氧2p带上方，由此产生的带隙被调谐以产生具有亮黄色、橙色和红色的化合物，从而产生下一代颜料。设计出具有优异色彩性能的新材料是一项重大的科学挑战，对它的追求将为新的色彩技术提供基础，并彻底改变我们的社会。该项目对固态材料化学领域的研究生和本科生的教育和研究训练有重要的贡献。高中生作为暑期实习生参与该项目，获得宝贵的实践研究经验，并学习STEM学科的高等教育和职业道路。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

PART 1. NON-TECHNICALColors play a vital role in our lives and how we respond to surroundings. Inorganic color pigments are used to generate colors in paints, glass, ceramics and plastics. However, the world has never had a truly safe durable inorganic red pigment. Currenty known inorganic red pigments contain toxic metals such as cadmium, mercury or lead. Driven by environmental laws, these red pigments have to be replaced and discovering a safe durable bright red pigment is the holy grail of colorant producing companies. The central theme of this materials chemistry project, which is supported by the Solid State and Materials Chemistry program in the Division of Materials Research at NSF, is the discovery of next generation durable non-toxic bright red inorganic pigments based on transition metal oxides and it’s derivatives that can be used in artist colors, industrial paints and other coating technologies. This project significantly contributes to education and research training for graduate and undergraduate students in the field of solid state materials chemistry. High school students participating in the project gain valuable hands-on research experience and learn the pathways to advanced education and career in STEM disciplines. New materials are drivers of new phenomena and technologies. Designing new materials with superior color properties is a scientific grand challenge, the pursuit of which will provide the basis for new color technologies and revolutionize our society. PART 2. TECHNICAL SUMMARYThis exploratory research, supported by the Solid State and Materials Chemistry program in the Division of Materials Research at NSF, is aimed at the discovery of new stable bright red inorganic materials that can be used as red color pigments. The focus is on the discovery of complex inorganic materials with unusual structural features. The common coordinations for transition metal cations in inorganic functional materials are tetrahedral and octahedral. Transition metal oxides with cations in trigonal bipyramidal coordination are rare but recently known to produce brilliantly colored blue oxides of considerable scientific and commercial interests as pigments; e.g. YInMn blue. By understanding the crystal structure-optical property relationships for trigonal bipyramidal cations in various complex inorganic oxides, the researchers design new transition metal oxides with red producing chromophores (e.g. chromium) that can be developed into commercially viable red pigments. This project also explores novel mixed oxides, oxyfluorides and oxysulfides with cations containing lone-pair electrons where there is a tin 5s or bismuth 6s band located above the oxygen 2p band and the resulting bandgap are tuned to produce compounds with brilliant yellow, orange and red colors leading to next generation pigments. Designing new materials with superior color properties is a scientific grand challenge, the pursuit of which will provide the basis for new color technologies and revolutionize our society. This project significantly contributes to education and research training for graduate and undergraduate students in the field of solid state materials chemistry. High school students participate in this project as summer interns and gain valuable hands-on research experience and learn the pathways to advanced education and career in STEM disciplines.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.