Synthesis of Egyptian Blue and mechanisms

Egyptian Blue (EB, Cuprorivaite, CaCuSi4O10) is a novel candidate for nanomaterial-based sensors in water, as its infrared (IR, 910 nm) emission has high quantum yield in comparison with current commonly-used IR reporters. IR signals for bioimaging and environmental sensing penetrate biological matrices (i.e. tissues) deeper and with less scattering than visible light. This work reports the effects of heating rate on the solid state synthetic yield of EB and formation mechanism is discussed. EB synthesis was investigated with thermogravimetric analysis coupled with mass spectrometry and in-situ high temperature X-ray diffraction. A reproducible maximum in EB yield was observed at a heating rate of 7 °C/min with samples containing CaCO3 precursor. We report the optimized reaction conditions, yields, and the photoluminescent response of the synthesized EB layered materials. The precursor content (O2, CaCO3, CuO and SiO2) also had a subtle effect on EB yield.