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Full-colour glow-in-the-dark materials unveiled

Posted March 13, 2007 4:54 PM

From New Scientist Tech - Latest Headlines:

Phosphorescent resins that glow across the entire spectrum, and even produce white light, put their eerie blue or green predecessors to shame. Glow-in-the-dark materials that shine with the whole range of visible colours, and can even produce white light, have been developed by Japanese researchers. The team from Ryukoku University, Kyoto, say they can be used to provide lighting and clearly readable signs in emergencies without the need for electricity. Using glow-in-the-dark - or phosphorescent - materials in this way is rare. But the International Commission on Illumination (CIE), the international authority on lighting, has suggested buildings be fitted with emergency lighting and signs that work without power as standard.

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Guru

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#1

Re: Full-colour glow-in-the-dark materials unveiled

03/13/2007 11:22 PM

Übercool!!! Any idea how to get samples of this stuff?

-e

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Guru
Engineering Fields - Manufacturing Engineering - United Kingdom - Member - Get things done!

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#2
In reply to #1

Re: Full-colour glow-in-the-dark materials unveiled

03/14/2007 8:14 AM

When they tell you the price, the shock makes you glow to match.........

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Guru

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#3
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Re: Full-colour glow-in-the-dark materials unveiled

03/14/2007 8:20 AM

I already have a number of high-persistence phosphors for a project I'm working on and, yes, they are expensive. One phosphor even glows violet (not purple, which is a mix of red and blue), and another, white. The red phosphors are the problem, and very short-lived, as they're still based on old zinc-sulfide technology. The green ones persist the longest. The phophors are in small, 1 oz, transparent zip-lock bags. 48 hours after being illuminated, the greens and blues were dim, but still glowing! Mine are strontium-aluminate-based phosphors, except for red/orange, which is why they're so expensive.

-e

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#4
In reply to #3

Re: Full-colour glow-in-the-dark materials unveiled

03/14/2007 10:56 AM

My experience is that all these glow in the dark materials is that they never seem to last long. In the article it makes reference to the short life of the phosphorescence. In that case, what application could they be used for as regards signage? (As suggested)

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Guru

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#6
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Re: Full-colour glow-in-the-dark materials unveiled

03/14/2007 11:22 AM

Are you thinking of the garden-variety, zinc-sulfide-based, glow-in-the-dark stuff? If so, you're right. It doesn't glow well for more than fifteen minutes at best. The compounds I have are not based on zinc sulfide, but on strontium aluminate, yttrium, europium (say "cheese!"), and other rare-earth elements. The green ones, like I said, glow for a long, long time.

I overlaid a sheet of strontium aluminate-based material with a strip of ZnS phosphorescent material and hit them both with UV. Within seconds of killing the light, the ZnS already appeared dark. Within ten minutes it looked like a black stripe down the center of the S.A. material.

So, you're right. The conventional glow-in-the-dark materials suck.

-e

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Guru

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#5

Re: Full-colour glow-in-the-dark materials unveiled

03/14/2007 10:57 AM

Is it safer than tritium?

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Guru

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#7
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Re: Full-colour glow-in-the-dark materials unveiled

03/14/2007 11:25 AM

Tritium-powered phosphors are, well, powered by the radioactive decay of tritium. Some may object to the power source, but, in terms of safety, I've not heard either way. I suppose these new phosphors might also respond to radioactive decay - which I believe is beta decay - but I'm not sure whether the decay might alter the organic dyes that color these new phosphors mentioned in the article.

-e

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