Spectroscopic analysis of a dye–mineral composite–a Raman and FT‐IR study

In this investigation, we address the question of how organic thioindigo binds to inorganic palygorskite to form a pigment similar to Maya Blue. We also address how such binding, if it occurs, might be affected by varying the proportion of dye relative to that of the mineral, and by varying the length of heating time used in preparation of the pigment. In addition to samples of palygorskite and thioindigo both alone, four synthetic pigment samples were prepared; two samples of 8 wt.% dye, one heated at 170 °C for 3 h and one at 170 °C for 9 h, and two samples of 16 wt.% dye, one heated at 170 °C for 3 h and one at 170 °C for 9 h. All samples were examined using Fourier transform‐infrared (FT‐IR) and FT‐Raman spectroscopy. For the pigment samples, FT‐IR peaks at 1627 cm⁻¹ are attributed to a downshifted CO stretching mode of thioindigo due to dye–clay interaction. This interpretation is corroborated by FT‐Raman CO peaks with 14 cm⁻¹ shifts to lower wavenumber for the pigment relative to thioindigo alone. Additional Raman scattering between 550 cm⁻¹ and 650 cm⁻¹ also suggests dye–clay interaction through metal–oxygen bonding. We are thus led to the possibility of mostly hydrogen bonding between silanol and carbonyl at lower dye concentration, with a predominance of metal–oxygen bonding at higher dye concentration. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.