Abstract
Maya Blue is a puzzling pigment found in objects produced by the ancient Maya civilization. It is a combination of indigo and palygorskite, and it is well-known for the high chemical and photochemical stability of the dye promoted by the clay confined environment. This pigment has survived over 1500 years, and it was first thought to be purely inorganic. The reasons for such stability have been investigated over the past years, and it may involve hydrogen bonds, complexation, and oxidation to dehydroindigo. However, these theories are not completely understood, and more evidence about indigo/palygorskite interactions must be obtained. In this study indigo and a Maya Blue simulant pigment were, for the first time, studied by transient absorption (TA) and time-resolved infrared (TRIR) spectroscopy. From such analysis it was possible to investigate the electronic excited states of indigo and the photochemistry behavior of the dye when interacting with the palygorskite. Concerning the TRIR measurements, the s...
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