Cadmium Pigments

Cadmium compounds are often used in paints and as pigments because of their brilliant hues. All cadmium pigments manufactured today are extremely lightfast, opaque and suitable for most artistic techniques. Toxic vapors are only released when cadmium pigments are burned. Therefore, the use of these pigments for painting purposes, for example for colored wall designs, is prohibited.

Cadmium red is derived from the CdSSe, which in its pure state is brown-black. With increasing selenium content, the pigment changes its color from orange to red to dark red.

The yellow of the German Bundespost was still cadmium yellow up to the early 1980s. Cadmium yellow consists of pure cadmium sulfide CdS and has a golden yellow color. Up to a third of the cadmium can be replaced by zinc. The pigment is insoluble in water and alkaline solutions, sparingly soluble in dilute mineral acids and decomposes to form hydrogen sulfide in strong mineral acids. Bismuth yellow offers a good alternative to cadmium yellow with comparable opacity, color strength and stability.

Cadmium green is a mixture of cadmium yellow and phthalocyanine blue. Like all cadmium pigments, these green mixtures are characterized by their excellent fastness and opacity.