Pigments through the Ages - Manufacture Recipes

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At a glance
Background
Making the pigment
Technical details

Source of Cadmium yellow:

greenockite

Minerals: greenockite and hawleyite (at Mineralogy Database)

Artificial variety of pigment Precipitation of a solution of cadmium(II)-nitrate with a solution of sodium sulfide. In the lab Materials needed: Cadmium(II)-nitrate (Cd(NO₃)₂ · 4 H₂O), Sodium sulfide (Na₂S · 9 H₂O) Safety (MSDSs): Cadmium(II)-nitrate
Sodium sulfide (at Fisher Scientific) Method: Solution of 9,7 g Cd(NO₃)₂ · 4 H₂O in 50 ml deionized water is added slowly to a stirred solution of 8,3 g Na₂S · 9 H₂O in 50 ml deionized water. The resulting precipitate is filtered, dried and homogenized in a mortar.

Illustration of the process:


Solutions of cadmium(II) nitrate and sodium sulfide	heating the solutions	precipitation reaction

stirring the precipitate	Filtration of the product

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Cadmium yellow

Source of Cadmium yellow:

Illustration of the process:

The ground pigment:

Pile of ground Cadmium yellow