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Concept
Prussian blue
Summary
Prussian blue also known as Berlin blue, Brandenburg blue, Parisian and Paris blue is a dark blue pigment produced by oxidation of ferrous ferrocyanide salts. It has the chemical formula Fe[Fe(CN)]. Turnbull's blue is chemically identical, but is made from different reagents, and its slightly different color stems from different impurities and particle sizes.
Prussian blue was created in the early 18th century and is the first modern synthetic pigment. It is prepared as a very fine colloidal dispersion, because the compound is not soluble in water. It contains variable amounts of other ions and its appearance depends sensitively on the size of the colloidal particles. The pigment is used in paints, and it is the traditional "blue" in blueprints, and became prominent in 19th-century aizuri-e (藍摺り絵) Japanese woodblock prints.
In medicine, orally administered Prussian blue is used as an antidote for certain kinds of heavy metal poisoning, e.g., by thallium(I) and radioactive isotopes of caesium. The therapy exploits the compound's ion-exchange properties and high affinity for certain "soft" metal cations.
It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the most important medications needed in a basic health system. Prussian blue lent its name to prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide) derived from it. In German, hydrogen cyanide is called Blausäure ('blue acid'). French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac gave cyanide its name, from the Ancient Greek word κύανος (kyanos, 'blue'/'cyan'), because of its Prussian blue color.
Prussian blue pigment is significant since it was the first stable and relatively lightfast blue pigment to be widely used since the loss of knowledge regarding the synthesis of Egyptian blue. European painters had previously used a number of pigments such as indigo dye, smalt, and Tyrian purple, and the extremely expensive ultramarine made from lapis lazuli. Japanese painters and woodblock print artists, likewise, did not have access to a long-lasting blue pigment until they began to import Prussian blue from Europe.
Official source
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