Ancient Egyptian pigment to help develop communication devices

A bright blue pigment used in ancient Egyptian artwork, 5,000 years ago, may boost development of a new class of nanomaterials for television remote controls and other telecommunication devices.
Regarded as humanity's first artificial pigment, it was used in paintings on tombs, statues and other objects throughout the ancient Mediterranean world.
Remnants have been found, for instance, on the statue of the messenger goddess Iris on the Parthenon and in the famous Pond in a Garden fresco in the tomb of Egyptian "scribe and counter of grain" Nebamun in Thebes, researcher Tina T Salguero and colleagues pointed out.
Scientists believe the pigment holds clues toward the development of new nanomaterials with potential uses in state-of-the-art medical imaging devices, remote controls for televisions, security inks and other technology, the Journal of the American Chemical Society reported.

Scientists discovered that the calcium copper silicate in Egyptian blue breaks apart into nanosheets so thin that thousands would fit across the width of a human hair.
The sheets produce invisible infrared (IR) radiation similar to the beams that communicate between remote controls and TVs, car door locks and other telecommunications devices.
"Calcium copper silicate provides a route to a new class of nanomaterials that are particularly interesting with respect to state-of-the-art pursuits like near-IR-based biomedical imaging, IR light-emitting devices (especially telecommunication platforms) and security ink formulations," the report stated.
"In this way we can reimagine the applications of an ancient material through modern technochemical means," the report said.