Spinel Black

Synthetic inorganic pigment

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Composition and Properties of Spinel Black

Spinel black belongs to the spinel group of compounds which are mixed oxides of metals. Spinel black is a manganese-iron spinel with a formula of MnFe2O4. It is the blackest of all known pigments except for the recently produced Vantablack. The much better-known pigment cobalt blue is a cobalt-aluminum spinel with the formula of CoAl2O4  which belongs to this group as well. 

The pigment is absolutely stable, has excellent lightfastness and is compatible with all other pigments.

spinel-black-crystals

Pigment

spinel-black-painted-swatch

Painted swatch

spinel-black-Mineral-Jacobsite

Mineral jacobsite

Names 

Color Index

PBk 26, CI 77494

Word origin

From French spinelle, from Italian spinella, diminutive of spina thorn.
From Oxford dictionary

Spain Flag

Spinellschwarz

German

Spain Flag

Spinelle noir

French

Spain Flag

Spinello nero

Italian

Spain Flag

Espinela negra

Spanish

Preparation 

The pigment can be prepared by heating of the oxides, hydroxides or carbonates of the two metals iron and manganese to a temperature of 1000 – 1400 °C.

History of Use 

The pigment has first been prepared in the 19th-century.

Identification

Raman Spectrum

Raman Spectrum of the mineral Jacobsite with the same chemical composition as the pigment at the RUFF Raman-Spectra Database of Minerals.

Further Reading

References

S. Muntwyler, J. Lipscher, HP. Schneider, Das Farbenbuch, 2nd. Ed., 2023, alataverlag Elsau, p. 118.