![]() Once well charged glow in the dark items will glow at their strongest for around 5 to 20 minutes depending on the colour (green and aqua work best).Īfter this initial bright period they then settle to a duller glow that can last many hours, again depending on the colour. Glow in the dark paints need to charge with strong light, UV blacklight and sunlight work best. Glow in the dark paint should be painted over a white background (primer) as without this you could loose as much as 60% of the glow brightness. I am not sure that you will achieve the effect that you want outside. I am working on two emails right now! In the photo below, the latex is on the left. Both packages advised that if I was dissatisfied, let them know. My recommendation is to look for a glow paint that has the strontium aluminate, even if it costs more. The phosphor used is clearly zinc sulfide and had not lived up to the package claims. And, as the photo will show, the glow is irregular, and looked like it was poorly mixed. The only way to get any glow was to illuminate the samples with blacklight. There was simply too little glow to even photograph the results. The two test pieces failed to glow after 8 hours in sunlight, or 10 hours under a fluorescent bulb. ![]() Despite the carefully followed directions, the results were terrible. The latex was coated on white foam board with six coats, and the spray with six light coats over a prepared piece of aluminum painted white as the instructions stated. I then followed the manufacturers instructions to the letter and expected at least reasonable results. But, neither container had the phosphor listed on the label, so I took a chance and purchased both for about $8 each. When I saw both the water-based latex glow paint from Rust-oleum, and the acrylic-based spray from Krylon, I was hoping that the phosphor being used was the strontium aluminate. It is also greenish in color, and can glow for 8 to 10 hours after being exposed to light. Of particular interest is strontium aluminate. But, there are several newer materials that are available that have brighter color, and glow for ten times as long. The problem with zinc sulfide is that it has a fairly weak color saturation, and a relatively short glow time. It absorbs light in mostly the blue end or ultraviolet area of the spectrum, and releases its energy over time as a yellowish-greenish color. Zinc sulfide is one of the oldest materials that exhibits phosphorescence. But, there are slower release chemicals that store energy for a longer time. The inside of the tube is coated with a phosphor that is quick acting, and converts the UV to a blue-white color. It is a gas discharge tube that electrically excites mercury vapor to produce ultraviolet energy. A good example is a fluorescent light familiar as a tube. ![]() It then releases that energy over time at another wavelength, or color. A phosphor is a chemical that absorbs light in one frequency, or wavelength,and stores it as energy. And, manufactures have made a number of materials phosphorescent, from glow in the dark safety tape, to paint that can be used at home.įirst, what is a phosphor and how does it work? Let's look at at a familiar concept to answer the question. The applications are very much varied from decoration to safety. There has always been a fascination with glow in the dark phosphors, and the market for consumer products is quite large. ![]()
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