NurdRage - 2009-12-13
How to make phosphorescent glow in the dark powder. Also known as luminescent, photoluminescent or simply glow powder. Warning: This experiment uses mildly toxic chemicals, wear gloves when handling them. In addition, the combustion reaction must be performed outside or in a fume-hood due to the resulting smoke and gasses. For this experiment you'll need: Strontium Nitrate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rd8b6wNnKA Aluminum Nitrate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4Ha1SJrazY Purification by recrystalization: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVA0rK_VITY Europium and dysprosium nitrates: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IFsOmriS8I And you'll need nitric acid to make the above nitrates: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yE7v4wkuZU The procedure is relatively straightforward: 1.875g of aluminum nitrate nonahydrate with 530mg of strontium nitrate, 10.7mg of europium nitrate pentahydrate, 21.9mg of dysprosium nitrate pentahydrate and 30.9mg of boric acid are dissolved in 3mL of distilled water. 3.9g of pure urea is added and shaken until dissolved. The mixture is heated in a 1000watt microwave for 4 minutes. Eventually it'll ignite and combust. The white "ash" is the glow powder. Can be used in Glow in the Dark Paint if crushed into a powder and mixed with an appropriate clear paint/resin/lacquer/glue.
I love how you're doing your own original chemistry and working towards a better product. Thanks for bringing us into your lab!
To get the glow constant, you need to ensure it heats evenly and that no part of it overheats. I'm not sure that you can do that with your current setup.
Very interesting video, I also have a few questions, why Eu and Ds (I assume that the valence electrons in the metal ions catch the light, jump up to a higher level then return back and release photons with specific wavelengths), why did you use two metals for this, what are their purposes for each other? Does the size of the metal ions play an important role in the glowing effect? Have you tried using other metals yet? As always, thanks for a great video. Enjoyed watching this, keep it up.
IMPORTANT NOTE
Iron contamination kills the fluorescence and phosphorescence of rare earth ions very, very easily. From what I've seen, cutting pieces of the rare earth metals with steel cutting tools may be the primary reason behind the dead flakes - the tiny pieces are enough to kill the phosphorescence. Try using tungsten carbide cutting tools instead. Another problem can be contaminated acids.
@Vrej Egon Spengler聽Pardon some people if they purchase more than the gram or two they intend to use for this synthesis. Assuming this isn't the only chemistry you'd ever do with rare earths, you're more likely to have large pieces that need cutting.
@Vrej Egon Spengler聽I tend to avoid that now. Tungsten carbide or zirconia cutting materials work great.
@Amos Zoeller You can just dip your rare earth metal into the acid for a short period. You could just put a small drop of HNO3 in a beaker or petri dish and put the metal on it.
@Vrej Egon Spengler聽That's not how you get known amounts of a reagent. Plus your metal nugget would be etched and extremely prone to oxidation, lowering its quality.
@Amos Zoeller h y
This is truly amazing! I thank you for taking the time to show us mortals this!
From what I can see from other glow powders, the surface area of the particles is inversely proportional to the afterglow time. I understand that combustion synthesis isn't exactly excellent in terms of controlling the rate of reaction, but would it be possible to improve the glow of the crystalline structure by slowly recrystallising the final product by dissolving in (say) water in a closed environment with hexane, such that the solvent composition is slowly changed over time as it diffuses?
THAT long ago? Wow you put even more effort into your videos than I imagined. Thank you Nurdrage.
Great work, cant wait to see your progress with the morphology to glow relationship.
oh yes i agree, buying stuff is usually much cheaper than making it. But i made this video primarily to demonstrate the science and the process. I'm one of those weird people that's not content with simply having something, i want to know where it came from. :)
it came from a store of course :)
And we love you for it.
Can we extract the rare earth metals from the glow powder?
it would be grat if you made a video of how fosforecence works, i just saw the how flourecence works and it was great!
Awesome video! Thank you very much for making it!
Very well done video. Crazy interested to the link between the different structures and the glow intensity.
very professional video, good job and hope u succeed in recreating a glow as strong and consistent as the commercial glow!!
Fascinating experiment! Have you conducted any more since then? Btw, what is the best online source for the brightest/longest lasting strontium aluminate (Eu, Dy doped of course).
Wouldn't it be easier to just flick the light switch???
This is very impressive, especially all the detailed instructions. Do you know of any research into how the powder actually works? I can find lots of obvious stuff on Google about excited electrons emitting photons but why is the rare-earth mix key? What _is_ the final product?
I've been curious to find compounds that exhibit phosphorescence for very short intervals-- milliseconds-- but with high intensity. This is for an optical memory device experiment, where the system will "refresh" the memory as needed. It is a somewhat more modern take on old CRT memory devices, but those had far too long a decay time. What compounds come to mind? Zinc sulfide, for example, has a decay rate that is still too slow for that purpose.
As silly as it gets! Thanks a lot for this information. But excluding the fact that i have not tested Any of the chemistry labs: This one was the one i looking for :) Is there by any chase a possibility to "crystalize" the flakes? without using regular glue and a rock. BECAUSE of you, now i want to study chemistry :) oh ya and love the voice hehehe
Wow, I wonder what clever solutions you'll try out to see if you can get a lower proportion of dead flakes! Hopefully you won't have to invest in a 1300 C furnace! This was great, NurdRage. Your patience, expertise and scientific goals really shine through in your videos. : ) ~ Jethro.
@joemnice zinc sulfide needs to be specially processed in order it to glow. Unfortunately i never found a good procedure for this.
NurdRage yo encontr茅 una. Haz reaccionar Zn+S para generar en total 10gm. Dopalo con 0.27 gramos de CuCl2. Mezcla bien los tres polvos y hazlos reaccionar prendiendolo. Solo ten cuidado por que harde generando una reacci贸n exotermica muy alta. Lo que queda un polvo blanco que representa ZnS:Cu. iluminalo con un l谩ser 405nm y veras el resultados. Mezcla los tres compuestos antes de hacerlos reaccionar.
Yo hice la prueba con 3.3grm de S, 7grm de Zn en polvo y 0.27 grm de CuCl2 (2%aprox). Se prende los fuegos artificiales y el polvo blanco iluminalo con l谩ser violeta (405nm) y veras el resultado.
NurdRage el alto calor generado por la reacci贸n exotermica y por la presencial del dopante genera una estructura cristalina dopada con los defectos para que la banda de energ铆a de el efecto fosforescente en una sola reacci贸n. Si haces videos de esto te encargo que me des los cr茅ditos correspondientes.
My god, the last few minutes of this video are so awesome. I love this stuff.
Rock on dude :-D聽
I love your videos, and how thorough you are, in your explanations.
the voice twist you have is really cool, so just keep it, as YOUR THING.... 聽聽
Thanks! :)
HI! I was wondering about the lightfastness of the glow... will it still continue to glow forever? does pure聽Europium glow on its own? great vid, thanks.
All of this is caused because of coordination complexes. I'd recommend you a book called "Chemistry the central science" by Theodore Brown.
Excellent! Can't wait to see what other colors you can come up with.
everything is cooler if it glows in the dark
this is really cool! i wasnt dissappointed about the results, for making something even glow a little gives me a great sense of accomplishment
Thank you so much! awesome explaining! - very helpful for me!!!
Wonderful! Brilliantly done. :)
I wanna appreciate you for the time, dedication and hard work. you earned a like... ;)
To anyone saying this isn't his real voice.. I'm pretty sure it is. I know guys who have slightly deeper voices than this..
great work! of course, do a study about it! i think that would be the first one ever! and the uses for such a powder are endless
I thought the rare earth elements are suppose to be doped into the substrate. In the microwave explosion, there may have been unintentional doping, and that being the cause of it glowing at all. Have you tried keeping it in a closed that can withstand the pressure ?
I believe that would give you a far more uniform product.
I'm not sure if this is already been suggested but if you pre powder all your components it will allow for a more even mix and that could potentially Aid in creating a pure and even substance
Ooo! Also, could you, in theory, make multiple batches, and by examining and testing yourself pick the good flakes out into the mortar of each batch so that when you crush them together, its more like the commercial stuff? ^.^
I do like your garden (do you call them a "back yard" or something in Canada?) ... well, I like it anyway.
)
@nurdrage, would it be possible to use this in electroluminescent wire? or do you specifically need phosphors for that?
I'd consider re-melting it in an inert atmosphere; the "dead flakes" probably have too many defects to glow, and annealing it might solve that.
So wondering if you've gotten around to finding a better method of doing this experiment to make less dead flakes?
Best comment ever " before you start pissing all over you lab " lol !
Thanks dude you make science fun! :D
I love how water is the ignition for most chemical reactions.
Found you through the P4A this year. Enjoying the vids very much. Thanks for your efforts!
While watching this video, I was wandering how the substitution of uranyl (uranium) nitrate in place of either of the actinide series salts, or even in addition to these salts, would change the the composition and desired effect. -just a thought
today my mom gave me a glow in the dark bracelet two of them lavender and yellow
... And?
@Scar Savage And he just felt like writing a completely unnecessary, inconsequential comment, just like you.
Also me.
Can you explain why you need a hydrogen-nitrogen atmosphere to make it more uniform? Do they act as catalysts, or do they just keep the O2 away? I'm sure this is a dumb question, but what would happen if you stuck a burning magnesium ribbon in there instead of using the microwave? Great stuff, this is one of my favorite YT channels.
Can you filter out the glassy & coarse parts?
That was so cool please continue I want to see more :)
What causes the dead flakes and how can the be removed?? Good vid as usual!! Thanks!!
Get tonic water point it with Black Light (UV light) and you get the same thing.
@Rumano Loko not really you still need highlighters and tonic water to make full use.
Hello Do you think this glowing powder soluble in water or NOT???
I believe the actual phosphorescent (glowing) powder that results will be ruined if it comes in contact with water. So yes and no, depending on what you meant.
This is based on MSDS and technical data posted on the Glow, Inc website here: http://glow.glowinc.com/choosing-a-medium/ It says, "Non-coated aluminate powders can not be used in water-based mediums."
(I'm also "The Glow-In-The-Dark Man". https://www.facebook.com/TheGlowInTheDarkMan/ I have no connection with Glow, Inc. other than being a customer and a huge fan.馃槑)
No, you cannot use water for some of the colors. They will dissolve. However, you can mix the powders together as-is.
Also, different colors have different particle sizes, so they don't "mix" like normal colors. You'll have streaks of each color.
I use resin to cast objects that glow. See my shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheGlowInTheDarkMan/items
You can contact me there, or via my Facebook page, as you prefer:
https://www.facebook.com/theglowinthedarkman
Leland Green dd
@NurdRage Thanks NurdRage for showing the world how to do this!!!!!!! YOU ARE A GENUIS!!!!! It taught me a lot about science, too! KEEP POSTING VIDEOS PLEASE!!! ~~~Jaketherake20~~~~ :D
Mayzel Vanadate - 2020-04-30
0:23 "How to make Glow Powder at home"
Ingredients that you have "at home" :
- Pure Aluminum Nitrate
- Pure Strontium Nitrate
- Europium Nitrate
- Dysprosium Nitrate
- Urea (Not Urine)
- And Boric Acid!
All chemicals are "totally" at your home and can easily be find at your local hardware store!
Blade of the Ruined King - 2020-11-16
Lol
Samuel Mudly - 2021-03-05
Lol 馃槅