Video Below:
The lightstick, or sometimes called a glowstick, has been available since the early 1960’s. Trademarked Cyalume, by American Cyanamid, they are based on work done at Bell Laboratories. They were initially used as emergency lighting and for situations where light was needed yet had no source of heat or spark. And, that is exactly what a glowstick does; it is light that is generated by a chemical reaction called chemiluminescence. The same concept in the world of biology is called bio luminescence. A great example is the firefly and its larva called glowworms. The chemistry involved can be accomplished with several different reactions, but the predominant one seems to use an ester called diphenyl oxalate. This ester, the product of an acid and an alcohol or phenol, is physically isolated from the other reactants in a plastic container. Since the ester is a solid, it is dissolved in a liquid carrier. The other reactants, hydrogen peroxide and a fluorescent dye, are contained in a glass ampoule inside of the plastic container. When the plastic container is bent, the glass ampoule is broken allowing the materials to react, providing the light. The reaction proceeds as follows: Hydrogen peroxide oxidizes the diphenyl oxalate to form free phenol and a very unstable peroxyacid ester. The peroxyacid ester decomposes due to its instability into carbon dioxide and releases the energy to excite the fluorescent dye. The change from the excited electron state back to the original electron state releases a photon of light and the reaction repeats until all of the reactants are consumed. This reaction proceeds best in a slightly alkaline environment so a weak base like sodium salicylate is added. I have not included any links as there is an abundance of information available online by searching for glowsticks or lightsticks. Enjoy the video…
A quick note. Many video protocols play at 30 frames per second and if you have a slower connection the video will keep buffering to keep up. A little trick to avoid this frustration is to simply hit the pause and let the "gas gauge" usually grey, get way ahead of the blue line. I have a DSL connection and it happens to me as well. When the gauge is far ahead of the blue play line, the video will be ready to play uninterrupted.
The lightstick, or sometimes called a glowstick, has been available since the early 1960’s. Trademarked Cyalume, by American Cyanamid, they are based on work done at Bell Laboratories. They were initially used as emergency lighting and for situations where light was needed yet had no source of heat or spark. And, that is exactly what a glowstick does; it is light that is generated by a chemical reaction called chemiluminescence. The same concept in the world of biology is called bio luminescence. A great example is the firefly and its larva called glowworms. The chemistry involved can be accomplished with several different reactions, but the predominant one seems to use an ester called diphenyl oxalate. This ester, the product of an acid and an alcohol or phenol, is physically isolated from the other reactants in a plastic container. Since the ester is a solid, it is dissolved in a liquid carrier. The other reactants, hydrogen peroxide and a fluorescent dye, are contained in a glass ampoule inside of the plastic container. When the plastic container is bent, the glass ampoule is broken allowing the materials to react, providing the light. The reaction proceeds as follows: Hydrogen peroxide oxidizes the diphenyl oxalate to form free phenol and a very unstable peroxyacid ester. The peroxyacid ester decomposes due to its instability into carbon dioxide and releases the energy to excite the fluorescent dye. The change from the excited electron state back to the original electron state releases a photon of light and the reaction repeats until all of the reactants are consumed. This reaction proceeds best in a slightly alkaline environment so a weak base like sodium salicylate is added. I have not included any links as there is an abundance of information available online by searching for glowsticks or lightsticks. Enjoy the video…
A quick note. Many video protocols play at 30 frames per second and if you have a slower connection the video will keep buffering to keep up. A little trick to avoid this frustration is to simply hit the pause and let the "gas gauge" usually grey, get way ahead of the blue line. I have a DSL connection and it happens to me as well. When the gauge is far ahead of the blue play line, the video will be ready to play uninterrupted.
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