Cadmium Red

Artificial inorganic pigment

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Composition and Properties of Cadmium Red

Cadmium red is cadmium sulfoselenide Cd(S,Se). Cadmium red contains between 15 to 30% (and more) selenium. The variations are solid solutions of selenium sulfide in cadmium sulfide.

It is stable as a pure pigment. The occurrences of bleaching or darkening in the beginnings of its use were due to impurities. The pigment is lightfast and there are no reports to the contrary. It is not compatible with lead and copper-containing pigments as they form dark sulfides of lead or copper.

Video: 'Mixing Cadmium Red Light - Vasari Classic Oil Colour' by Jackson's Art

cadmium-red-crystals

Pigment

cadmium-red-painted-swatch

Painted swatch

Matisse-the-red-studio

Henri Matisse, The Red Studio, 1911

Names 

Alternative names

Cadmium sulfoselenide

Color Index

PR 108, CI 77202

Word origin

Word coined in Modern Latin from cadmia, a word used by ancient naturalists for various earths and oxides (especially zinc carbonate), from Greek kadmeia “Cadmean (earth),” from Kadmos “Cadmus,” legendary founder of Boeotian Thebes. So called because the earth was first found in the vicinity of Thebes (Kadmeioi was an alternative name for “Thebans” since the time of Homer).

From WordFinder

Spain Flag

Cadmiumrot

German

Spain Flag

Rouge de cadmium

French

Spain Flag

Rosso di cadmio

Italian

Spain Flag

rojo de cadmio

Spanish

Preparation of Cadmium Red

Cadmium orange and red can be prepared by a reaction of a solution of a cadmium salt, such as cadmium chloride, with a solution of sodium sulfide and sodium selenide in the desired proportion.

History of Use 

Cadmium pigments have been in use since about 1840 until today. They might get banned in the European Union in the next future because of their toxicity.

Example of use

Henri Matisse, Interior with Black Fern, 1948

Matisse-interior-with-black-fern-450

Identification

Fiber Optics Reflectance Spectrum (FORS)
Infrared Spectrum

1. IR Spectrum of cadmium red light in the ATR-FT-IR spectra of different pure inorganic pigments, University of Tartu, Estonia.

2. IR Spectrum of cadmium red light in linseed oil by S. Vahur, Database of ATR-IR spectra of materials related to paints and coatings, University of Tartu, Estonia

IR-Spectrum_cadmium_red_linseed_oil

X-Ray Fluorescence Spektrum (XRF)

XRF Spectrum in the Free XRF Spectroscopy Database of Pigments Checker, CHSOS website.

References

(1) Thoury M, Delaney JK, Rie ER, Palmer M, Morales K, Krueger J., Near-infrared luminescence of cadmium pigments: in situ identification and mapping in paintings, Appl Spectrosc. 2011 Aug;65(8):939-51. doi: 10.1366/11-06230.

cadmium-red-microphotograph

Microphotograph

image © Volker Emrath

Further Reading

References

(1) Fiedler, I., Bayard, M.A., Cadmium Yellows, Oranges, and Reds, in Artists’ Pigments. A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, Vol. 1: Feller, R.L. (Ed.) Oxford University Press 1986, p. 65 – 108. Available as pdf from the National Gallery of Art.

(2) S. Muntwyler, J. Lipscher, HP. Schneider, Das Farbenbuch, 2nd. Ed., 2023, alataverlag Elsau, pp. 110-111.