sakuraswordly reblogged
Zinc is an important element that is found widely in biological systems, is cheap to manufacture relative to other metals, and has low toxicity. However, unlike other similar metals that exhibit a variety of vibrant colors in metal complexes, seeing different colors for zinc materials was not thought possible. In a study published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, have synthesized a complex with two zinc ions that does exhibit color—greatly expanding the potential properties of zinc complexes. Dramatic color changes are often used to demonstrate chemical reactions for fun; however, they can also have important uses in indicators, sensing, and smart materials. For certain metal complexes these changes happen because visible light has just the right energy to move electrons between the orbitals—the parts of the atom structure that accommodate the electrons. However, the energy gap between such orbitals of zinc's most stable ion is much larger than the energy of visible light, so the electrons can't be moved between the orbitals—and therefore can't produce color.
Source: phys.org