Patent Application
20160319097
When exposed to sunlight, surfaces with high solar reflectance are cooler than more absorbing surfaces. The use of pigments that scatter and reflect solar radiation in a variety of substrates like coatings, siding, and roofing material, may help mediate the Heat Island Effect, mitigate thermal-related mechanical failure, and reduce energy demand for cooling. White pigments that are reflective across the majority of solar irradiance wavelengths give the optimal level of solar reflectance. However, a large proportion of solar irradiance falls in the near-infrared region (NIR) above 780 nm. There are a number of complex inorganic pigments that are dark colored and absorb in the visible region from 400-780 nm, yet reflect sunlight in the near-infrared region from 780-2500 nm, for example, Chrome Iron Nickel Black Spinel, CI Pigment Black 30, and Iron Chromium Brown-Blacks, variously identified as CI Pigments Green 17, Brown 29, and Brown 35. While not as reflecting as white pigments, these near-infrared reflecting pigments allow greater color flexibility and can provide cooler surfaces than when using pigments that absorb more strongly across the wavelengths of solar irradiance.
Many near-infrared reflecting pigments, for example Iron Chromium Brown-Blacks, contain trivalent chromium. In some cases, pigments containing chromium have non-negligible levels of hexavalent chromium present. To avoid health and regulatory concerns, it is useful to have alternative pigments that provide similar color and reflectance properties, but do not contain chromium. The technology described herein is a chromium-free near-infrared reflecting black pigment.
The current technology is directed to an iron-substituted copper aluminum delafossite pigment, as well as a gallate version of the same. The materials have the general formula ABO2, where A is monovalent and B is trivalent, with a pattern of alternating layers of octahedrally coordinated B atoms separated by two-coordinate A atoms. In particular, the materials may be defined as near-infrared reflecting, iron-substituted solid solution copper delafossite pigments, that may have the formula Cu(FexAl1-x)O2 wherein X is 0.01-1.00; and near-infrared reflecting, iron-substituted solid solution copper delafossite pigments, that may have the formula Cu(FexAl1-x)O2 wherein X is 0.01-0.50. The corresponding near-infrared reflecting, iron-substituted solid solution copper gallate delafossite pigments may have the formula Cu(FexGa1-x)O2 wherein X is 0.01-1.00; and also have the formula Cu(FexGa1-x)O2 wherein X is 0.01-0.50.
Other near-infrared reflecting, iron-substituted solid solution copper delafossite pigments may have the formula CuFexM1-xO2 wherein X is 0.01-1.00, and wherein M is a trivalent M3+ ion or a mixture of trivalent ions including B, Al, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Ga, Y, Nb, In, Sb, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, and mixtures thereof. In addition, M may be a trivalent M3+ ion or a mixture of trivalent ions including Al, Ga, In, and mixtures thereof.
Other near-infrared reflecting, iron-substituted solid solution copper delafossite pigments may have the formula A(FexM1-x)O2, wherein A is selected from Cu, Ag, Li, Na, K or a mixture of ions Cu, Ag, Li, Na, K, and M may be Al or Ga. X may range from 0.01-1.00. M may also be a trivalent M3+ ion or a mixture of trivalent ions including B, Al, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Ga, Y, Nb, In, Sb, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, and mixtures thereof. M may also be limited to trivalent ions including Al, Ga, In, and mixtures thereof. M may additionally comprise charge compensated ratios of monovalent, divalent, tetravalent, pentavalent, and hexavalent ions, wherein the monovalent ions may be Li, Na, K, or mixtures thereof, wherein the divalent ions may be Mn, Co, Ni, Mg, Ca, Zn, or mixtures thereof, the tetravalent ions may be Si, Ge, Ti, Zr, Sn, or mixtures thereof, the pentavalent ions may be Sb, Bi, V, Nb, or mixtures thereof, and the hexavalent ions may be Mo, W, or mixtures thereof, in ratios such that the average oxidation state is M3+ and charge neutrality is maintained.
Substitutional solid solutions of metal oxides form when metal ions of a solute metal oxide are incorporated in the lattice sites of a metal oxide solvent. Formation of a homogeneous solid solution phase relies on the balance of many factors, including oxidation state, ionic radius, electronegativities of metal ions, and crystal structures of solute and solvent metal oxides. In some cases a solid solution can form across an entire composition range of two end member oxides, such as the solid solution formed from reaction of Cr2O3 and Al2O3, (CrxAl1-x)2O3, where X varies from 0 to 1. In other cases solid solutions will form a homogeneous phase only within a given range of X. CuAlO2 and CuFeO2 both crystallize with the ABO2 delafossite structure, and the ionic radii for Al3+ and Fe3+ are similar in size. Under high temperature calcination of homogenized starting material mixtures of aluminum, iron and copper reagents, a solid solution is formed where both Fe and Al are present in the B site in the ABO2 structure, Cu(FexAl1-x)O2 where X varies from 0 to 1. Similarly, gallium, iron, and copper reagents lead to solid solution products of the form Cu(FexGa1-x)O2. Solid solutions resulting from substitution at the A site with monovalent cations such as Ag+, Pt+, or Pd+ have also been observed in delafossite systems.
Substitution at sites in the solvent metal oxide with a metal ion of the same oxidation state is isovalent substitution. In solid solutions with aliovalent substitution, ions in the original metal oxide solvent structure are replaced with ions of a different charge. This can lead to cation or anion vacancies, or incorporation of charge balancing ions interstitially in normally unpopulated holes in the structure.
Alternatively, aliovalent substitution with more than one metal ion can maintain charge balance. For example, two Al3+ ions can be replaced with one Zn2+ ion and one Ti4+ ion, the average oxidation state across the two metals remains M3+, and charge neutrality is maintained.
Both isovalent and aliovalent substitution and formation of solid solutions can affect the electronic nature of the solvent metal oxide; the solid solution may exhibit properties different than those of the unsubstituted metal oxide. For example, the band structure and the optical absorption spectra of solid solutions may differ from those of either solute or solvent metal oxide. The delafossite solid solutions Cu(FexAl1-x)O2 and Cu(FexGa1-x)O2 where Fe3+ is substituted for the isovalent ions Al3+ or Ga3+ show additional absorption features through the visible region compared to the unsubstituted CuAlO2 and CuGaO2 materials. Additionally, alongside isovalent substitution of Al3+ or Ga3+ with Fe3+, concurrent aliovalent substitution with more than one metal ion, for example, two Al3+ ions replaced with one Zn2+ ion and one Ti4+ ion, may have additional affects on the electronic structure and resulting absorption features of the products compared to the isovalent substituted materials and provide the ability to shift the band gap and further tune the color and reflectance properties of the resulting pigments.
The current technology is directed to an iron-substituted copper aluminum delafossite pigment, as well as a gallate version of the same. In particular, the materials may be defined as iron-substituted solid solution copper aluminum delafossite CuFexAl1-xO2 and the gallate, CuFexGa1-xO2, X=0.01-1.00. The CuFexAl1-xO2 and CuFexGa1-xO2 pigments are dark-brown to black, exhibit band gaps near 1.5 eV, absorb most light in the visible spectrum, and have low absorbance and high reflectance in the near-infrared region, specifically light from about 700 nm-2500 nm. These properties are quantified in Total Solar Reflectance (TSR) values as determined via ASTM E903; CuFexAl1-xO2 and CuFexGa1-xO2 pigments have TSR values larger than those for pigments that are more absorbing across solar irradiance wavelengths. The reflectance reaches a local maximum for the CuFexAl1-xO2 and CuFexGa1-xO2 pigments near 1000 nm. Iron-Chromium Brown-Black pigments, with band gaps near 1.0 eV, also begin to show increased reflectance beginning near 700 nm; however, the reflectance curves rise more slowly as wavelength increases and only reach a local maximum reflectance around 1300 nm. Because solar irradiance is higher at wavelengths closer to the visible region, the CuFexAl1-xO2 and CuFexGa1-xO2 materials reflect more solar energy than a pigment that absorbs in this region. More specifically, the CuFexAl1-xO2 and CuFexGa1-xO2 materials absorb less and reflect more light than the traditional and industry-standard near-infrared reflecting Iron-Chromium Brown-Black pigments in a region beginning near 700 nm and extending to 1150 nm or higher.
It is not uncommon for metal oxides to deviate from perfect stoichiometry; that is, the ratio of elements in the formula ABO2 may vary (the assumed 1:1:2 ratio for A, B, and O, respectively, may vary), although the material will still exhibit the same structure. These non-stoichiometric defect structures are within the scope of this technology and should be assumed throughout the application and claims.
Substitutions of the following forms are considered within the scope of this technology:
Mixed oxides of the form ABO2 with a delafossite structure, where
Below are examples of iron-substituted copper aluminum delafossite pigments. The list below is not comprehensive.
A mixture of 167.1 grams copper (I) oxide (Cu2O), 154.9 grams aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH)3) and 28.0 grams iron (III) oxide (Fe2O3) with molar ratios of Cu:Al:Fe=1.00:0.85:0.15 was homogenized and calcined for six hours at 1050° C. under flowing argon in a tube furnace. The resulting 291.0 grams were combined and a 250 g portion was jet-milled to give Example 1 with a D50 particle size of 1.02 microns (50 of the particles below 1.0 microns) as measured on a Microtrac S3500 laser scattering instrument to give Example 1 with a formula of CuFe0.15Al0.85O2
A series of samples were prepared using the molar ratios and mass of reagents as listed in the table below. Mixtures of reagents were homogenized and calcined for six hours at 1050° C. under flowing argon in a tube furnace to give Examples 2-10 with formulas CuFexAl1-xO2; X=0.01-0.50 as indicated in Table 2 below.
A mixture of 1.32 grams copper (I) oxide (Cu2O), 1.47 grams gallium oxide Ga2O3) and 0.22 grams iron (III) oxide (Fe2O3) with molar ratios of Cu:Ga:Fe=1.00:0.85:0.15 was homogenized and calcined for six hours at 1200° C. under flowing argon in a tube furnace to give Example 11 with a formula of CuFe0.15Ga0.85O2.
X-ray powder diffraction measurements were made at room temperature using a Rigaku X ray diffractometer with Cu Kα radiation at 40 kV and 40 mA from 2θ=10° to 75° at 1°/min. Powder diffraction measurements were made for Examples 1-11. The dominant structure exhibited for Examples 1-11 was the expected Cu(Fe,M)O2 phase (M=Al, Ga) identified by comparing peaks with the CuAlO2 or CuGaO2 patterns. Trace phases included Cu metal, and Al2O3 or Ga2O3. Table 3 indicates the observed phase composition for Examples 1-11.
In industrial application it is common to use a mixture of pigments to obtain a desired color shade. Addition of black pigments to forest-green shade pigments is one route to a dark-green or olive-shade camouflage color. Both Shepherd Color pigment GR0410 (CI pigment Green 26 Cobalt Chromite Spinel) and Example 1 have high reflectance in the region between 700 and 1100 nm. In contrast, the standard near-infrared pigment BK0010P922 (CI Pigment Green 17 Chromium Green-Black Hematite) reflects less, and absorbs more strongly, in this region. As a result, the Preparative Blends of GR0410 using Example 1 have similar color but higher reflectance in the 700-1100 nm region, quantified in the table at 760 nm, and have higher TSR than blends of GR0410 with BK0010P922.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62154264 | Apr 2015 | US |
