This is astonishing and unexpected. Better our command of the science strongly suggests that this will open up a huge range of available organic light sources that are not exotic at all. embedding something like this as a substrate in a clear plastic sheet becomes plausible along with a low energy profile.
We are on the way to white light ceiling panels that cost little to operate. Who would have thought any of this coming out of the box?
The payoff though is obviously the low energy profile. Add it to plasticized electronic circuits and flexibility becomes extreme.
I also certain that our whole electrical system is heading toward coherent ultra violet radiation as an almost perfect carrier and this protocol fits in perfectly.
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How Turmeric Will Light Up The Future – Literally!
http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/06/26/how-turmeric-will-light-up-the-future-literally/
Can you imagine a computer or handheld device backlight or display of the future being lit up by a turmeric
or pomegranate mixture? Imagine if an entirely edible source of white
light could be generated with minimal environmental and human health
impacts? The good news is that we no longer have to rely on our
imagination. We now have the science to show it is indeed possible!
What could be more unnatural and yet indispensable in the modern
world than a light bulb? Made from metal, glass, and a variety of
petrochemicals, who would even consider looking for a “green”
alternative? And if so, what would that be?
Now, a groundbreaking new study published in Scientific Reports seems
to have found exactly such a green solution. Amazingly, Indian
researchers discovered that a mixture of two commonly consumed edible
plants, red pomegranate and turmeric, when exposed to light wavelengths just below the visible threshold (380 nm), produced almost pure white light emission (WLE).
This finding represents a simple, cheap and environmentally safe
alternative to current LED technology, which presently rely on toxic
materials, including heavy metals such as arsenic, copper, nickel, and
lead, in their production.
In the new study titled “White Light Emission from Vegetable Extracts,”
Indian researchers described how they were able to conveniently tune
the color temperature of the WLE by adjusting the concentrations of the
“the primary emitting pigments,” namely, anthocyanins from red
pomegranate seed juice and curcumin extract from turmeric.
One of the crucial mechanisms behind their ability to produce an
almost pure white light emission was identified as “Foster resonance
energy transfer” (FREF). FREF is a mechanism that describes energy
transfer between two light-sensitive molecules (known as chromophores).
The researchers identified A FRET-like, light-induced energy transfer
cascade: polyphenolics > curcumin > anthocyanins, resulting in WLE
The researchers were also able to create an entirely edible
gelatin-based mixture of the plant extracts that was capable of emitting
almost pure white light when exposed to UV light, depicted below.
The researchers summarized their findings:
In summary, we have generated white light emission from natural dyes extracted in our laboratory using a green and simple procedure. The optimized mixture of two suitably chosen plant extracts using acidic ethanol, aided by a FRET cascade from polyphenolics to curcumin to anthocyanins, generates almost pure white light, with CIE values of (0.35, 0.33) in solution, (0.26, 0.33) in gelatin gel and (0.33, 0.25) in PVA film. White light emission from such cheap and nature friendly resources could be important in the context of lighting and sensing application. It would be interesting to see if such system can be used as dyes for tunable dye laser applications. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time low cost, biocompatible (edible) natural dyes have been a part of white light emitting system. Given the vast number of excellent natural fluorescent dyes obtainable from renewable biosources, approaches similar to the present could lead to a more extensive range of low-cost and efficient WLE biomaterials with ease of adjusting colour temperature, which will obviate more expensive alternatives currently being pursued.”[emphasis added]
The researchers also described the context within which their finding may have revolutionary implications for future technology:
“White light emitting materials have attracted significant attention in recent years as key components in display and lighting devices based on LEDs. LEDs accounts for almost 20% of the total worldwide energy consumption and have wide applications in backlights, displays, lasers and indicators. White light emission has also been used for sensing. There has been a high level of interest in recent years in looking for white light emitting organic and inorganic molecules and materials, when photoexcited at near UV wavelengths.”
Clearly this study holds great promise for a sustainable future.
We’ve already identified numerous properties within plants like turmeric and pomegranate
which indicate they are far superior to conventional drug-based
interventions for disease prevention and treatment. We are only now
learning about the technological applications of these remarkable
substances and it is likely we are still only scratching the surface.
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