Glow stick

It consists of a translucent plastic tube containing isolated substances that, when combined, make light through chemiluminescence.

Bis(2,4,5-trichloro-6-(pentyloxycarbonyl)phenyl)oxalate, trademarked "Cyalume", was invented in 1971 by Michael M. Rauhut,[2] of American Cyanamid, based on work by Edwin A. Chandross and David Iba Sr. of Bell Labs.

[3][4] Other early work on chemiluminescence was carried out at the same time, by researchers under Herbert Richter at China Lake Naval Weapons Center.

[7][8][9] A later 1976 patent[10] recommended a single glass ampoule that is suspended in a second substance, that when broken and mixed together, provide the chemiluminescent light.

The idea was this would replace traditional emergency roadside flares and would be superior, since it was not a fire hazard, would be easier and safer to deploy, and would not be made ineffective if struck by passing vehicles.

[citation needed] In the early 1980s the majority of glow sticks were produced in Novato, California by Omniglow Corp. Omniglow completed a leveraged buyout of American Cyanamid's chemical light division in 1994 and became the leading supplier of glow sticks worldwide until going out of business in 2014.

[11] Glow sticks are waterproof, do not use batteries, consume no oxygen, generate no or negligible heat, produce neither spark nor flame, can tolerate high pressures such as those found under water, are inexpensive, and are reasonably disposable.

Glow sticks also serve multiple functions as toys, readily visible night-time warnings to motorists, and luminous markings that enable parents to keep track of their children.

It was created by the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater's Chemistry Department to celebrate the school's sesquicentennial, or 150th birthday in Whitewater, Wisconsin and cracked on 9 September 2018.

Chemiluminescence, the type of light used in glow sticks, is a "cold-light" and does not use electricity, and will not cause a gas leak to ignite.

Glow sticks are also used within police tactical units, as light sources during night operations or close-quarters combat in dark areas.

Glow sticks are used by police, fire, and emergency medical services as light sources, similar to their military applications.

Often, emergency rescue crews will hand out glow sticks in order to keep track of people at night, who may not have access to their own lighting.

Glow sticks are sometimes attached to life vests and lifeboats on passenger and commercial vessels, to ensure night time visibility.

[18] The reason for this is that the reverse [2 + 2] photocycloadditions of 1,2-dioxetanedione is a forbidden transition (it violates Woodward–Hoffmann rules) and cannot proceed through a regular thermal mechanism.

This also allows glow sticks to perform satisfactorily in hot or cold climates, by compensating for the temperature dependence of reaction.

At maximum concentration (typically found only in laboratory settings), mixing the chemicals results in a furious reaction, producing large amounts of light for only a few seconds.

Cooling a glow stick slows the reaction a small amount and causes it to last longer, but the light is dimmer.

Infrared glow sticks may appear dark-red to black, as the dyes absorb the visible light produced inside the container and reemit near-infrared.

It is advisable to keep the mixture away from skin and to prevent accidental ingestion if the glow stick case splits or breaks.

[30] From the report "that substance must not be used in toys or gimmick and gag articles as according to classification it may damage fertility or the unborn child.

  1. The plastic casing covers the inner fluid.
  2. The glass capsule covers the solution.
  3. Diphenyl oxalate and fluorescent dye solution
  4. Hydrogen peroxide solution
  5. After the glass capsule is broken and the solutions mix, the glow stick glows.
Different color glow sticks meant for use as bracelets
Disassembly of a chemoluminescent glow stick, from left to right: (1) original, intact lightstick; (2) opened glow stick with peroxide mixture poured into a graduated cylinder and glass ampoule of fluorophore removed; (3) all three under UV illumination showing fluorophore fluorescence and plastic container fluorescence; (4) chemoluminescence of mixed substances in the graduated cylinder; (5) the mixture returned to the original plastic container, showing a slightly different (more orange) colour of light emission.
Party decor
Oxidation of an diphenyl oxalate (top), decomposition of 1,2-dioxetanedione (middle), relaxation of dye (lower)
Spectral emission of chemiluminescence (green line) of mixed fluorophore and peroxide, which was removed from an orange glow stick, fluorescence of liquid fluorophore in glass ampoule only (before mixing) while under black light (yellow-orange line), fluorescence of plastic outer container of orange glow stick under black light (red line), and spectrum of reassembled chemiluminescent glow stick (glowing liquid poured back into original orange plastic vial) (darker orange line). This plot thus shows that the orange light from an orange glow stick (identical to the one in the above glow stick disassembly image) is created by a greenish-yellow light emitting chemoluminescent liquid partially inducing fluorescence in (and being filtered by) an orange plastic container.
Light emitted from a white glow stick. Four or five peaks are observed in the spectrum, suggesting the presence of four or five different fluorophores contained in the glow stick.