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Abstract
Near-infrared luminescent pigments have been valued throughout history either due to their vivid colors or their meaning for certain cultures. Two blue colored inorganic pigments based on copper and manganese. Egyptian blue, which was synthesized 5,000 years ago was the first synthetic inorganic pigment known to mankind was produced from three simple reactants: copper oxide, calcium carbonate, and silicon dioxide. Around the same time era, faience, quartz-based ceramic often with a colored glassy glaze shares similar components with Egyptian blue pigment. Investigations conducted by our lab using visible induced luminescence on ancient faience samples revealed the presence of Egyptian blue. Manganese blue is a modern inorganic pigment that has been used as a cement whitener and an artist pigment till its production ceased in the 1990s. Manganese blue exhibits stability against light, acids, and bases and in addition displays an emission profile centered at ~1300 nm. For biomedical imaging applications, specifically in the NIR-II windows where better resolution, manganese blue is an ideal candidate for near-infrared biomedical imaging. Chapter 2 discusses the synthesis, nanostructuring, and characterization of manganese blue. Chapter 3 explores, the in-situ synthesis and characterization of Egyptian blue in faience and chapter 4 investigates different sources of raw materials to achieve the synthesis of Egyptian blue in faience.