Piezochromic Compounds Able to be Used in Shock Detecting Paints

The work of the ICMCB has dealt with the inorganic piezochromic pigments improvement. Our activities can be divided in three main points. From the state of the art on AMoO₄ piezochromic molybdates (this state of the art is described in the introduction paragraph), the first point has consisted in the synthesis and characterization of the piezochromic oxides and in qualifying pigments mixtures able to mark a shock (the pressure of the shock) without knowing the temperature at which has occurred the shock. In a second point, in order to vary the shock pressure inducing a change of color of the piezochromic pigments, new synthesis routes were developed in order to significantly vary the crystallites size of the piezochromic pigments. Indeed, it was shown that the crystallite size modifies in a large way the piezochromic behavior of the pigments. This point is very important for SARISTU project in order to get a palette of morphologies fitting with the requirements of the aeronautic piezochromic paints. In a last (third) point, the exploration of new potential systems was made. In particular, we have focused on doped calcium carbonates able to change their luminescent properties depending on the applied pressure and/or the temperature. This last part has opened new possibilities which have to be more investigated in a near future. The most important results obtained concerning the three above points are here summed up and discussed.