This article reviews the history of this important material, its current uses and future research directions.
Bismuth vanadate and bismuth vanadate/molybdate, basic bismuth nitrate and bismuth oxychloride all have been used as pigments. The Bi-V pigments are absorption pigments appearing yellow to red-orange. Since bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) and basic bismuth nitrate (BiONO3.H2O) are both white and can be grown as platelets, they can be pearlescent. Bismuth nitrate tends to recrystallize, leading to loss of pearlescence, and has not found significant application. Therefore, our interest is limited to bismuth oxychloride.