YGa1−xMnxO3: A novel purple inorganic pigment

Abstract

A purple inorganic pigment, YGa_1−xMn_xO₃ (0 < x ≤ 0.10), based on hexagonal YGaO₃ is reported here. The metastable series of oxides were prepared by a sol–gel technique where the dried gels, obtained from aqueous solutions of metal nitrate–citric acid mixtures, were calcined for a short duration in a preheated furnace around 850 °C. The purple colour of the oxides arises from the specific trigonal bipyramidal ligand field around Mn^III in a YGaO₃ host. Other hexagonal RGaO₃ hosts for R = Lu, Tm and Ho substituted with Mn^III also produce similar purple coloured materials.