There’s a new blue colour in town and it’s called YinMn blue. It’s the first new blue pigment since the development of Cobalt blue in 1802. During a lab experiment at Oregon State University in 2009, chemist Mas Subramanian accidentally created the new pigment. While exploring new materials to increase capacity and speed in electronics the researchers stumbled upon the new colour.
It’s a result of super-heating the elements Yttrium (Y), Indium (In) and Manganese (Mn) – hence the name YinMn. Due to the rarity of Indium this electric blue is not available commercially as it is proving to be very expensive to produce. Currently, YinMn is six times the cost of Cobalt or Cerelean blues. “We started to make a compound that would revolutionize the electronics industry but it ended up being in the crayon, or it can be on our home, or it can be on your car,” says Subramanian. Some things really can appear right out of the blue.