The following list includes commercially or artistically important inorganic

pigments A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compou ...

of natural and synthetic origin..

Purple pigments

Aluminum pigments * Ultramarine violet: (PV15) - a synthetic or naturally occurring

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

containing

silicate mineral Silicate minerals are rock-forming minerals made up of silicate groups. They are the largest and most important class of minerals and make up approximately 90 percent of Earth's crust. In mineralogy, silica (silicon dioxide, ) is usually consid ...

. Copper pigments *

Han purple Han purple and Han blue (also called Chinese purple and Chinese blue) are synthetic barium copper silicate pigments developed in China and used in ancient and imperial China from the Western Zhou period (1045–771 BC) until the end of the Han dy ...

: BaCuSi₂O₆. Cobalt pigments *

Cobalt violet Cobalt phosphate is the inorganic compound with the formula Co3(PO4)2. It is a commercial inorganic pigment known as cobalt violet.Hugo Müller, Wolfgang Müller, Manfred Wehner, Heike Liewald "Artists' Colors" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Indust ...

: (PV14) Co₃(PO₄)₂. Manganese pigments *

Manganese violet Manganese violet is the common name for ammonium manganese(III) pyrophosphate, an inorganic compound composed of ammonium (), manganese in the +3 oxidation state, and the pyrophosphate anion (). It is prepared by heating a mixture of manganese(I ...

: NH₄MnP₂O₇ (PV16) manganic ammonium

pyrophosphate In chemistry, pyrophosphates are phosphorus oxyanions that contain two phosphorus atoms in a P–O–P linkage. A number of pyrophosphate salts exist, such as disodium pyrophosphate (Na2H2P2O7) and tetrasodium pyrophosphate (Na4P2O7), among other ...

. Gold pigments *

Purple of Cassius Purple of Cassius is a purple pigment formed by the reaction of gold salts with tin(II) chloride. It has been used to impart glass with a red coloration (see ''cranberry glass''), as well as to determine the presence of gold as a chemical test. ...

: Gold nanoparticles suspended in

tin dioxide Tin(IV) oxide, also known as stannic oxide, is the inorganic compound with the formula SnO2. The mineral form of SnO2 is called cassiterite, and this is the main ore of tin. With many other names, this oxide of tin is an important material in tin ...

- Au_x • SnO₂.

Blue pigments

Aluminum pigments *

Ultramarine Ultramarine is a deep blue color pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. The name comes from the Latin ''ultramarinus'', literally 'beyond the sea', because the pigment was imported into Europe from mines in Afgh ...

(PB29): a synthetic or naturally occurring

containing

- (generalized formula) *

Persian blue Persian blue comes in three major tones: Persian blue proper: a bright medium blue; medium Persian blue (a medium slightly grayish blue that is slightly indigoish); and a kind of dark blue which is referred to as Persian indigo, dark Persian ...

: made by grinding up the mineral

Lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, ...

. The most important mineral component of lapis lazuli is

lazurite Lazurite is a tectosilicate mineral with sulfate, sulfur and chloride with formula . It is a feldspathoid and a member of the sodalite group. Lazurite crystallizes in the isometric system although well‐formed crystals are rare. It is usually ...

(25% to 40%), a feldspathoid silicate mineral with the formula . Cobalt pigments *

Cobalt blue Cobalt blue is a blue pigment made by sintering cobalt(II) oxide with aluminum(III) oxide (alumina) at 1200 °C. Chemically, cobalt blue pigment is cobalt(II) oxide-aluminium oxide, or cobalt(II) aluminate, CoAl2O4. Cobalt blue is lighter ...

(PB28): cobalt(II) aluminate. * Cerulean blue (PB35): cobalt(II) stannate. *

Cerium uranium blue Cerium uranium blue is the name given to solid solutions of cerium(IV) oxide, CeO2, and uranium(IV) oxide, UO2, of variable composition from 0 to 100% uranium. Synthesis and properties Cerium uranium blue was first obtained by heating together c ...

Copper pigments *

Egyptian blue Egyptian blue, also known as calcium copper silicate (CaCuSi4O10 or CaOCuO(SiO2)4 (calcium copper tetrasilicate)) or cuprorivaite, is a pigment that was used in ancient Egypt for thousands of years. It is considered to be the first synthetic pi ...

: a synthetic pigment of calcium copper silicate (CaCuSi₄O₁₀). Thought to be the first synthetically produced pigment. *

Han blue Han purple and Han blue (also called Chinese purple and Chinese blue) are synthetic barium copper silicate pigments developed in China and used in ancient and imperial China from the Western Zhou period (1045–771 BC) until the end of the Han ...

: BaCuSi₄O₁₀. *

Azurite Azurite is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. During the early 19th century, it was also known as chessylite, after the Type locality (geology), type locality at Chessy, Rhône, Chessy-les-Mines near ...

: cupric carbonate hydroxide (Cu₃(CO₃)₂(OH)₂). *

Basic copper carbonate Basic copper carbonate is a chemical compound, more properly called copper(II) carbonate hydroxide. It is an ionic compound (a salt) consisting of the ions copper(II) , carbonate , and hydroxide . The name most commonly refers to the compound w ...

: Cu₂(OH)₂CO₃. Iron pigments *

Prussian blue Prussian blue (also known as Berlin blue, Brandenburg blue or, in painting, Parisian or Paris blue) is a dark blue pigment produced by oxidation of ferrous ferrocyanide salts. It has the chemical formula Fe CN)">Cyanide.html" ;"title="e(Cyani ...

(PB27): a synthetic inert pigment made of

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

and

cyanide Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...

: C₁₈Fe₇N₁₈. Manganese pigments * YInMn Blue: a synthetic pigment discovered in 2009 (YIn_1−xMn_xO₃). *Manganese blue: barium manganate(VI) sulfate.

Green pigments

Cadmium pigments * Cadmium green: a light green pigment consisting of a mixture of cadmium yellow (CdS) and

chrome green Chromium(III) oxide (or chromia) is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is one of the principal oxides of chromium and is used as a pigment. In nature, it occurs as the rare mineral eskolaite. Structure and properties has the corundum ...

(Cr₂O₃). Chromium pigments *

Chrome green Chromium(III) oxide (or chromia) is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is one of the principal oxides of chromium and is used as a pigment. In nature, it occurs as the rare mineral eskolaite. Structure and properties has the corundum ...

(PG17): anhydrous

chromium(III) oxide Chromium(III) oxide (or chromia) is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is one of the principal oxides of chromium and is used as a pigment. In nature, it occurs as the rare mineral eskolaite. Structure and properties has the corundum ...

(Cr₂O₃). *

Viridian Viridian is a blue-green pigment, a hydrated chromium(III) oxide, of medium saturation and relatively dark in value. It is composed of a majority of green, followed by blue. Specifically, it is a shade of spring green, which places the color b ...

(PG18): hydrated

Cr₂O₃ • xH₂O. Cobalt pigments *

Cobalt green Cobalt green is an ambiguous term for either of two families of green inorganic pigments. Both are obtained by doping cobalt(II) oxide into colorless host oxides. Spinel-based cobalt green Doping Co(II) into Mg(II) and Zn(II) sites of Mg2TiO4 and ...

: also known as Rinman's green or zinc green (CoZnO₂). Copper pigments *

Malachite Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formula Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses, in fractures ...

: cupric carbonate hydroxide (Cu₂CO₃(OH)₂). *

Scheele's Green Scheele's Green, also called Schloss Green, is chemically a cupric hydrogen arsenite (also called copper arsenite or acidic copper arsenite), . It is chemically related to Paris Green. Scheele's Green was invented in 1775 by Carl Wilhelm Sch ...

(also called Schloss green): cupric arsenite (CuHAsO₃). Other pigments *

Green earth Green earth, also known as terre verte and Verona green, is an inorganic pigment derived from the minerals celadonite and glauconite. Its chemical formula is .

: also known as terre verte and Verona green ().

Yellow pigments

Arsenic pigments *

Orpiment Orpiment is a deep-colored, orange-yellow arsenic sulfide mineral with formula . It is found in volcanic fumaroles, low-temperature hydrothermal veins, and hot springs and is formed both by sublimation and as a byproduct of the decay of another a ...

: natural monoclinic arsenic sulfide (As₂S₃). Bismuth pigments *Primrose yellow (PY184):

bismuth Bismuth is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Bi and atomic number 83. It is a post-transition metal and one of the pnictogens, with chemical properties resembling its lighter group 15 siblings arsenic and antimony. Elemental ...

vanadate In chemistry, a vanadate is an anionic coordination complex of vanadium. Often vanadate refers to oxoanions of vanadium, most of which exist in its highest oxidation state of +5. The complexes and are referred to as hexacyanovanadate(III) and no ...

(BiVO₄). Cadmium pigments * Cadmium yellow (PY37):

cadmium sulfide Cadmium sulfide is the inorganic compound with the formula CdS. Cadmium sulfide is a yellow solid.Egon Wiberg, Arnold Frederick Holleman (2001''Inorganic Chemistry'' Elsevier It occurs in nature with two different crystal structures as the rare m ...

(CdS), which also occurs as the mineral

greenockite Greenockite is a rare cadmium bearing metal sulfide mineral consisting of cadmium sulfide (CdS) in crystalline form. Greenockite crystallizes in the Hexagonal crystal system, hexagonal system. It occurs as massive encrustations and as hemimorphic ...

. Chromium pigments *

Chrome yellow __NOTOC__ Chrome yellow is a yellow pigment in paints using monoclinic lead(II) chromate (PbCrO4). It occurs naturally as the mineral crocoite but the mineral ore itself was never used as a pigment for paint. After the French chemist Louis Va ...

crocoite Crocoite is a mineral consisting of lead chromate, Pb Cr O4, and crystallizing in the monoclinic crystal system. It is identical in composition with the artificial product chrome yellow used as a paint pigment. Description Crocoite is commo ...

(PY34): lead chromate (PbCrO₄). Cobalt pigments *

Aureolin Aureolin (sometimes called cobalt yellow) is a pigment sparingly used in oil and watercolor painting. Its color index name is PY40 (40th entry on list of yellow pigments). It was first made in 1831 by Nikolaus Wolfgang Fischer in Breslau character ...

or cobalt yellow (PY40): potassium cobaltinitrite (). Iron Pigments *

Yellow ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

(PY43): a naturally occurring clay of monohydrated ferric oxide (Fe₂O₃ • H₂O). Lead pigments * Naples yellow (PY41). *

Lead-tin-yellow Lead-tin-yellow is a yellow pigment, of historical importance in oil painting, sometimes called the "Yellow of the Old Masters" because of the frequency with which it was used by those famous painters. Nomenclature The name lead-tin yellow ...

: or . Titanium pigments *

Titanium yellow Titanium yellow, also nickel antimony titanium yellow, nickel antimony titanium yellow rutile, CI Pigment Yellow 53, or C.I. 77788, is a yellow pigment with the chemical composition of NiO· Sb2O3·20 TiO2. It is a complex inorganic compound. Its ...

(PY53):

NiO are two wrathful and muscular guardians of the Buddha standing today at the entrance of many Buddhist temples in East Asian Buddhism in the form of frightening wrestler-like statues. They are dharmapala manifestations of the bodhisattva Vajra ...

· Sb₂O₃·20 TiO₂. Tin Pigments *

Mosaic gold Mosaic gold or bronze powder refers to tin(IV) sulfide as used as a pigment in bronzing and gilding wood and metal work. It is obtained as a yellow scaly crystalline powder. The alchemists referred to it as aurum musivum, or aurum mosaicum. The t ...

stannic sulfide Tin(IV) sulfide is a compound with the formula . The compound crystallizes in the cadmium iodide motif, with the Sn(IV) situated in "octahedral holes' defined by six sulfide centers. It occurs naturally as the rare mineral berndtite. It is useful ...

(SnS₂). Zinc Pigments *

Zinc yellow Chromate conversion coating or alodine coating is a type of conversion coating used to passivate steel, aluminium, zinc, cadmium, copper, silver, titanium, magnesium, and tin alloys. The coating serves as a corrosion inhibitor, as a primer ...

(PY36): zinc chromate (ZnCrO₄), a highly toxic substance with anti-corrosive properties which was historically most often used to paint over metals.

Orange pigments

Bismuth pigments * Bismuth vanadate orange (PO83) non-toxic pigment similar to vermilion. Cadmium pigments * Cadmium orange (PO20): an intermediate between cadmium red and cadmium yellow: cadmium

sulfoselenide In chemistry, a selenosulfide refers to distinct classes of inorganic and organic compounds containing sulfur and selenium. The organic derivatives contain Se-S bonds, whereas the inorganic derivatives are more variable. Organic selenosulfides ...

. Chromium pigments *

Chrome orange Chrome orange is a mixed oxide with the chemical formula Pb2CrO5. It can be made by treating a lead(II) salt with an alkaline solution of a chromate or by treating chrome yellow (PbCrO4) with strongly basic solution.. Synthesis and nanoparti ...

: a now obscure pigment composed of a mixture of

lead chromate Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, l ...

and

lead(II) oxide Lead(II) oxide, also called lead monoxide, is the inorganic compound with the molecular formula Pb O. PbO occurs in two polymorphs: litharge having a tetragonal crystal structure, and massicot having an orthorhombic crystal structure. Modern ap ...

(PbCrO₄•PbO).

Red pigments

Arsenic pigments *

Realgar Realgar ( ), also known as "ruby sulphur" or "ruby of arsenic", is an arsenic sulfide mineral with the chemical formula α-. It is a soft, sectile mineral occurring in monoclinic crystals, or in granular, compact, or powdery form, often in asso ...

: As₄S₄ - a highly toxic natural pigment. Cadmium pigments *

Cadmium red Cadmium pigments are a class of pigments that contain cadmium. Most of the cadmium produced worldwide has been for use in rechargeable nickel–cadmium batteries, which have been replaced by other rechargeable nickel-chemistry cell varieties ...

(PR108): cadmium sulfo-selenide (Cd2SSe). Cerium pigments * Cerium sulfide red (PR265). Iron oxide pigments *

Sanguine Sanguine () or red chalk is chalk of a reddish-brown colour, so called because it resembles the colour of dried blood. It has been popular for centuries for drawing (where white chalk only works on coloured paper). The word comes via French fr ...

Caput mortuum ''Caput mortuum'' (plural ''capita mortua'') is a Latin term whose literal meaning is "dead head" or "worthless remains", used in alchemy. ''Caput mortuum'' (alternately called '' nigredo'') signified a useless substance left over from a chemi ...

Indian red Indian red is a pigment, a variety of ocher, which gets its colour from ferric oxide, produced in India. Other shades of iron oxides include Venetian Red, English Red, and Kobe, all shown below. Chestnut is a colour similar to but separat ...

Venetian red Venetian red is a light and warm (somewhat unsaturated) pigment that is a darker shade of red, derived from nearly pure ferric oxide (Fe2O3) of the hematite type. Modern versions are frequently made with synthetic red iron oxide. Historically, ...

, oxide red (PR102). *

Red ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

(PR102): anhydrous Fe₂O₃. *

Burnt sienna Sienna (from it, terra di Siena, meaning "Siena earth") is an earth pigment containing iron oxide and manganese oxide. In its natural state, it is yellowish brown and is called raw sienna. When heated, it becomes a reddish brown and is calle ...

(PBr7): a pigment produced by heating raw sienna. Lead pigments * Minium (pigment): also known as

red lead Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

, lead tetroxide, Pb₃O₄. Mercury pigments *

Vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since ancient history, antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its correspondi ...

cinnabar Cinnabar (), or cinnabarite (), from the grc, κιννάβαρι (), is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of Mercury sulfide, mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining mercury (element), elemental mercury and ...

(PR106): HgS.

Brown pigments

Clay earth pigments (naturally formed iron oxides) * Raw umber (PBr7): a natural clay pigment consisting of iron oxide, manganese oxide and aluminum oxide: Fe₂O₃ + MnO₂ + H₂O + Si + Al₂O₃. When calcined (heated) it is referred to as burnt umber and has more intense colors. * Raw sienna (PBr7): a naturally occurring yellow-brown pigment from limonite clay. Used in art since

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

times.

Black pigments

Carbonaceous pigments *

Carbon black Carbon black (subtypes are acetylene black, channel black, furnace black, lamp black and thermal black) is a material produced by the incomplete combustion of coal and coal tar, vegetable matter, or petroleum products, including fuel oil, fluid ...

(PBk7). *

Ivory black Bone char ( lat, carbo animalis) is a porous, black, granular material produced by charring animal bones. Its composition varies depending on how it is made; however, it consists mainly of tricalcium phosphate (or hydroxyapatite) 57–80%, calci ...

(PBk9). * Vine black (PBk8). *

Lamp black Carbon black (subtypes are acetylene black, channel black, furnace black, lamp black and thermal black) is a material produced by the incomplete combustion of coal and coal tar, vegetable matter, or petroleum products, including fuel oil, fluid ...

(PBk6). Iron pigments * Mars black or Iron black (PBk11) (C.I. No.77499) Synthetic

magnetite Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula Fe2+Fe3+2O4. It is one of the oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetized to become a permanent magnet itself. With the ...

Fe₃O₄. Manganese pigments *

Manganese dioxide Manganese dioxide is the inorganic compound with the formula . This blackish or brown solid occurs naturally as the mineral pyrolusite, which is the main ore of manganese and a component of manganese nodules. The principal use for is for dry-cell ...

: blackish or brown in color, used since prehistoric times (MnO₂). Titanium pigments * Titanium black: Titanium(III) oxide (Ti₂O₃).

White pigments

Antimony pigment *

Antimony white Antimony(III) oxide is the inorganic compound with the Chemical formula, formula Sb2O3. It is the most important commercial compound of antimony. It is found in nature as the minerals valentinite and senarmontite. Like most polymeric oxides, Sb ...

antimony(III) oxide Antimony(III) oxide is the inorganic compound with the formula Sb2O3. It is the most important commercial compound of antimony. It is found in nature as the minerals valentinite and senarmontite. Like most polymeric oxides, Sb2O3 dissolves i ...

(Sb₂O₃). Barium pigments *

Barium sulfate Barium sulfate (or sulphate) is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula Ba SO4. It is a white crystalline solid that is odorless and insoluble in water. It occurs as the mineral barite, which is the main commercial source of barium an ...

(PW5 or

baryte Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate ( Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

barium sulfate Barium sulfate (or sulphate) is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula Ba SO4. It is a white crystalline solid that is odorless and insoluble in water. It occurs as the mineral barite, which is the main commercial source of barium an ...

(BaSO₄). *

Lithopone Lithopone, C.I. Pigment White 5, is a mixture of inorganic compounds, widely used as a white pigment powder. It is composed of a mixture of barium sulfate and zinc sulfide. These insoluble compounds blend well with organic compounds and confer op ...

: BaSO₄•ZnS. Lead pigment * Cremnitz white (PW1): basic

lead(II) carbonate Lead(II) carbonate is the chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a white solid with several practical uses, despite its toxicity. It occurs naturally as the mineral cerussite. Structure Like all metal carbonates, lead(II) carbonate a ...

(). Titanium pigment *

Titanium white Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium(IV) oxide or titania , is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula . When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6 (PW6), or CI 77891. It is a white solid that is insolubl ...

(PW6):

titanium(IV) oxide Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium(IV) oxide or titania , is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula . When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6 (PW6), or CI 77891. It is a white solid that is insolub ...

(TiO₂). Zinc pigments *

Zinc white Zinc oxide is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a white powder that is insoluble in water. ZnO is used as an additive in numerous materials and products including cosmetics, food supplements, rubbers, plastics, ceramics, glass, cement ...

(PW4):

zinc oxide Zinc oxide is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a white powder that is insoluble in water. ZnO is used as an additive in numerous materials and products including cosmetics, food supplements, rubbers, plastics, ceramics, glass, cemen ...

(ZnO). *Sachtolith:

zinc sulfide Zinc sulfide (or zinc sulphide) is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula of ZnS. This is the main form of zinc found in nature, where it mainly occurs as the mineral sphalerite. Although this mineral is usually black because of various i ...

(ZnS).

Fluorescent pigments

Uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

salts.

Safety

A number of pigments, especially traditional ones, contain heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium that are highly toxic. The use of these pigments is now highly restricted in many countries.

References

External links

* {{Cite NIE, wstitle=Mineral Paints, short=x