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.

Pigment

Painted swatch

Mineral jacobsite

Names

Color Index

PBk 26, CI 77494

Word origin

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

Spinellschwarz

German

Spinelle noir

French

Spinello nero

Italian

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.