1700 years ago Mayans developed nanotechnology to create the brilliant and enduring Maya Blue pigment.
Maya Blue has long puzzled archaeologists because of its remarkable longevity. Physicists have finally discovered why the blue pigment used by the Mayans lasts so long.
The Maya civilisation flourished in central America from 2500 BC until the arrival of the Spanish in the 17th century.
The pigment was made by burning incense made from tree resin and using the heat to cook a mixture of indigo plants and palygorskite clay.
Electrochemical data indicate that the creation of Maya Blue involves a significant reorganization of zeolite into a nanostructured organic−inorganic material of dehydroindigo and indigo in a palygorskite matrix.
The clay fibres contain channels filled with water molecules. The heating process causes the water to boil away, allowing the indigo to enter these channels. When the material cools down, these channels then become sealed by gatekeeper molecules that prevent the indigo from getting out again.
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