YInMN

YInMn Blue

200 Years in the Making

YInMn = Brilliant Blue

Commercially known as Blue 513, YInMn Blue pigments are now available for use in industrial coatings, plastics, and artist color materials. Why is this important? Creating blue pigments for worldwide applications was no easy feat, but it was one that Shepherd Color has been committed to for a long time.

Chemist Mas Subramanian and his team at Oregon State University stumbled upon an undiscovered pigment of blue – the first new blue in 200 years.

After significant testing by the R&D team at Shepherd Color, YInMn was found to have unusually high NIR reflectance, perfect for use in engineering plastic and high - performance coating applications. YInMn Blue is also able to withstand extreme weather conditions due to its high-temperature calcination production process.

At Shepherd Color, we’re dedicated to providing our customers with new and impactful pigments for coatings, plastics, and other material markets. Rely on Shepherd Color to Brighten Your Life with the highest quality products and latest innovations.

Even though Shepherd Color has been around for 90+ years, we don’t rest on our laurels. Instead, we are continually developing, searching, and testing new options to better serve our customers across the globe. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality pigments across the board, and creating new blues like the YinMn blue pigment has been no different.

The way this blue pigment has been created is revolutionary because it is a new pigment chemistry that expands the range of colors available that stay cooler when exposed to the sun, allowing building material manufacturers to meet regulatory requirements and building owners to potentially save energy.

Shepherd Color is committed to ongoing sustainability efforts, and by using YinMn blue pigments, we can help our clients improve their energy efficiency and use this high-performance IR-reflective blue pigment in their products.

Just some of the beneficial applications for YinMn are pre-painted metal, roofing granules, roofing tiles, glass enamels, and artist color materials.

Still have questions about this blue pigment? We can help. Request a sample or contact our team to learn more.

2015

Pigment licensed to Shepherd Color

2017

YInMn approved for limited commercial and artist use in Europe

2020

YInMn approved for limited commercial and artist use in U.S.

Customers found several unique
characteristics with YInMn:

Frame

A unique shade of blue for artist color materials. Please see the FAQ’s below to see where artists may purchase material containing this pigment.

Group 6665

Dark blue-shade colors for building products with high solar reflectance for regulatory approvals and reduced energy for cooling.

Group 6649

Other applications where its high heat and UV stability, IR properties, unique chemical structure and composition along with bright blue color add value.

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YInMn Blue is compatible with a wide range of applications – request a sample below to see how it can work for you.

PLEASE READ BEFORE REQUESTING A SAMPLE:

Shepherd Color will not provide samples to individuals, only industrial companies with the correct PPE equipment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please contact one of the companies below by visiting their website. They are listed by area/country, but some may take international orders.

United States

Golden: https://www.goldenpaints.com/ or 800-959-6543

Since 1980 Golden Artist Colors has produced thousands of custom products to meet the individual needs of our creative customers. They are now offering Acrylic, Oil and Watercolor paints made with YInMn Blue pigment – the first new inorganic blue pigment in over 200 years – through the GOLDEN custom lab. If you are interested in ordering YInMn Blue paints from Golden, please visit us here or call the number above.

If you’d like to see the Golden Custom Lab in action, click here to see a video showing the process of making paint with YInMn blue.

Australia

Derivan Pty Ltd: https://www.matisse.com.au/yin-min-blue-structure

St. Luke Artist Colourmen, 32 Smith Street, Collingwood, Victoria. 3066: https://stlukeart.com/colour/pigment/standard-pigment/

Europe

Kremer Pigmente: https://www.kremer-pigmente.com/de/yinmn-blue-45320.html

Japan

Kusakabe: http://www.kusakabe-enogu.co.jp/english/

The pigment is based on an oxide made of Yttrium(Y), Indium (In) and Manganese (Mn).
The YInMn name is just shorthand for that. It is also fairly easy to say ‘Yin-min’ Blue.

A color is the interaction of a light source (like the sun or a light bulb), an object (and it’s absorbing and scattering of light by wavelength), and the observer (the person). When someone looks at a plastic chip made with YInMn Blue outdoors, you could have another plastic chip next to it made with different pigments that would look perceptibly to most people to be the same. So in that way, YInMn isn’t a new ‘color’. It is a new color in that it is a new chemical composition that by itself has that unique color as compared to other color pigments. Chemists took elements (Yttrium, Indium, Manganese and Oxygen) and reacted them in specific ways in specific ratios to make the bright blue known as YInMn Blue.

While color matching in the first instance happens everyday all over, including at your local paint store, a new pigment chemistry that makes a useful color is something rather rare. Only a few brand new and unique commercial pigments are discovered every 10-20 years. Besides the color, YInMn Blue also has other properties like high-opacity and n-IR reflectance that give it further benefits than just its beautiful color.

Shepherd Color can only sell dry pigment powder to industrial, commercial companies with the correct PPE and handling equipment as laid out in the SDS. Commercial use only is a stipulation of the EPA’s listing the material on the TSCA inventory. As such, we can’t provide individuals with dry YInMn pigment.

YInMn Blue is a dry powder pigment that must be dispersed in a paint, coating, plastic or other binder material.

YInMn Blue was tested at the Duke University’s Division of Occupational & Environmental Medicine and found:

  • Found no toxic component or contaminant level or effect of the products themselves that would require acute or chronic hazard labeling to conform with ASTM D4236, the Labeling for Hazardous Art Materials Act, LHAMA regulations (16 CFR 1500.14(B)(8), or the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.
  • Is classified as NOT being toxic, corrosive, a skin or eye irritant, a strong sensitizer or combustible/flammable as defined in 16 CFR 1500.3(b)(5), and 1500.3(b)(7) – (10) of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act regulations.
  • Does not require labeling under California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65).
  • Do not contain hazardous substances when evaluated under ASTM F963.8.2 of the Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety.
  • For EN71.3:2013 approved for use at 1% max loading for category I (Dry brittle, powder-like or pliable material), and 5% max loading for Category III (Scraped off material).