Liu et al./Matter
Researchers from the South China Agricultural University has created plants, that glow in the dark in different colors and are charged by sunlight.
In terms of brightness, these succulent plants are close to night lamps and demonstrate the potential to create ecological lighting systems based on plants. These plants glow in different colors after treatment with light-emitting compounds.
“Imagine the world of the movie Avatar, where glowing plants illuminate the entire ecosystem. We wanted to bring this idea to life, using the materials we already work with in the laboratory. Imagine glowing trees, replacing streetlights”, — said the first author of the study Shutin Liu.
However, controlling the color and intensity of the plants’ glow proved to be a difficult task. Previous attempts to create a lighting system in practice at the expense of plants have encountered many difficulties, including poor optical performance due to the increased number of defects on the surface of nanoparticles.
As part of the study, chinese scientists have integrated echeveria “Mebina” microparticles afterglow up to 5 microns in size. The compact structure of this succulent and the large intercellular spaces contribute to the efficient transfer of larger particles, resulting in a uniform, enhanced multicolor glow. The researchers found, that this approach outperforms the traditional trade-off between particle size and luminescence efficiency, for the first time, allowing the successful development of multicolored luminescent plants.
“Smaller nanoscale particles move easily inside the plant, but they are duller. Larger particles glowed brighter, but could not move far inside the plant”, — explains Shutin Liu.
These substances — phosphor particles made of strontium and aluminum with other metals — absorb light energy at one wavelength, store some of this energy, and then slowly re-emit it at another wavelength over several hours.The scientists purchased phosphors, containing strontium aluminate, ground them into particles of various sizes, and injected them into plants, that included both succulents and non-succulents, including goldenrod and pak choi.
They found, that the particles with a diameter of about 7 microns glowed brighter, than the nanoparticles in the plants, and filled the inner tissues of the succulents’ leaves, providing a stronger and more uniform glow. On the contrary, plants with simple leaf structures, such as tobacco and pak choi, emitted a more heterogeneous glow. But only succulents produced a strong glow due to the narrow, uniform and evenly distributed channels inside the leaf, which helped to effectively disperse the particles. Just a few minutes exposure to sunlight or of indoor LED lighting allowed these plants to then glow for about 2 hours
According to Shutin Liu, the researchers initially believed, that plants with an airy tissue structure will behave better, so the results they obtained were a surprise to them. By using different types of phosphors, researchers created plants, glowing in different colors, including green, red, and blue.
The scientists built a wall of 56 succulents, that glowed brightly enough to illuminate everything around them and even read. According to Shutin Liu, it takes about 10 minutes to prepare each plant and costs about $1.5, not including the work itself.
The research team found, that the light of the succulents dims over time, and they are still studying the safety of the materials for plants in the long term. Nevertheless, this concept could be a sustainable alternative to low-intensity lighting for walkways, gardens, and other interior items.
The results of the study are published in the journal Matter
Source: Nature; Interesting Engineering
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