Thermochromism and thermal crystal structure evolution of YIn0.9Mn0.1O3

Abstract

YIn1-x Mn x O3 is a newly discovered inorganic blue pigment whose vivid blue color results from MnO5 trigonal bipyramidal (TBP) polyhedra. Recently, it has been reported that commercial YIn1-x Mn x O3 powders exhibit a temperature-induced color change, i.e. thermochromism. In this study, we investigate the thermochromism and temperature-induced crystal structure evolution of synthetic YIn0.9Mn0.1O3 powders. We observe that a vivid blue color at RT gradually changed to a dark blue color with increasing temperature. This thermochromism is mainly attributed to a broadening of optical absorption bands in the visible and UV regions, and can also be contributed to by an enhancement of the UV absorption. Our crystal structure analysis using powder synchrotron X-ray diffraction data not only confirms the thermal expansion and enhanced thermal vibrations of oxygen, but also reveals a temperature-induced deformation of the TBP polyhedra. Based on these results, we discuss a possible mechanism for the thermochromism of the YIn0.9Mn0.1O3 system.