Chemiluminescence

[migzchavz]

Hi guys! I have a question regarding chemiluminescence. It's for a semester-wide project.

 

Chemiluminescence is basically the property of some chemical reactions to emit light. It's the same property observed in glow sticks.

 

I am planning to apply this concept in making a light source that is renewable (meaning, the glow can be recharged). Do you guys think that's possible? Thank you!

[Phi for All]

What will the source be illuminating? Is it a daytime effect, possibly with color and a brightness that can be seen in the day? Or is this to illuminate when/where it's dark?

 

It makes a difference in what effect you need, but in both cases it shouldn't be difficult to set up some lights to come on at proper intervals to recharge the luminescence. Be aware that most LED lights won't have enough UV light to give the luminescence a good charge, but if you stay away from the warmer red ones, you should get enough energy from the bluer LEDs (5500K+). A UV light turning on and off at measured intervals, to coincide with how long the charge lasts, would be ideal.

 

Renewable, but not self-sustaining. Is this along the lines of what you were looking for?

[DrP]

Playing with luminescent pigments recently I would say you want to look at phospholuminescence in particular... it lasts longer than plain old luminescence due to metastable states that the electrons fall through rather than jumping straight to the ground/bottom energy level.

[swansont]

Renewable means you have to be able to reverse the reaction. That may not be easy to do — it depends on the reaction(s) involved.

[iNow]

Separate, but related: PBS Nova this week just aired a special on bioluminescent creatures. You might find something of interest or to inspire new thoughts on the site for this episode: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/creatures-light.html

 

Watch Online: http://www.pbs.org/video/2365657898/

[jketter]

OLEDs are [effectively] chemiluminescent devices, so yes you can "recharge" or, more commonly "turn on and off" chemiluminescent reactions with a couple electrodes and appropriate bias voltage, aka "electrogenerated chemiluminescence" (ECL). 9,10-Diphenylanthracene (DPA, blue) and ruthenium tris bipyradine (Ru(bpy)3, orange) are a couple commonly used ECL molecules, and they take advantage of different mechanisms to produce the excited state. Not sure how detailed you want but a text reference for you:

 

Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence by Allen J. Bard (hard copy: http://amzn.to/2l0TTtZ ordigital: https://books.google.com/books?id=3aK2sahiRY8C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false). The full copy is expensive, but it may be available in univ. chem library and google books digital copy has partial text available.

[TheRadiochemist]

If you do it right, you could possibly use the energetic oxidation of white phosphorus into red form, but it will be extremely dangerous, unreliable, and possibly toxic if broken. The real tricky part is trying to coax the red phosphorus back into white form without spontaneously igniting it. This could work if you only released oxygen into the tube AFTER the conversion is complete, but it would require fancy pumping mechanisms and gas canisters. The fuel would only need to be a bit of power for the pumps, a tube full of phosphorus powder (better to make it red and THEN convert it into white in the chamber), and a few small oxygen canisters. Of course, this is completely hypothetical and a complete waste of time, but I am bringing it to the table. Also, look into the reactions provided by fluorescein. This chemical is extremely easy and hassle free to obtain, and even in it's usual state it produces a green-yellow glow under a UV light. Also research SrAl₂O_4, (strontium aluminate).