The Asian Fantastic |

Glow sticks are a fantastic idea, the technology behind which I have always wished to understand. Beyond knowing that they do not glow because they housed gu10 led bulbs, I knew little else about the mechanism behind the glow stick, which is why I decided to conduct a little research. Glow sticks consist of a small fragile container containing a solution which is within a flexible outer container which contains another solution. When the glow stick user bends the outer container, the inner container is broken which releases the solution within the smaller container into the second solution which is housed in the outer container. The two solutions in question are hydrogen peroxide and phenol and it is recommended to keep these away from one’s skin as they have been known to have adverse effects.

The two chemicals within the glow stick are also accompanied by a fluorescent dye to ensure that the glow stick does indeed flow. Inside the plastic tube is a mixture of diphenyl oxalate and dye. Inside the fragile glass vial is hydrogen peroxide. When the phenyl oxalate ester and the peroxide are mixed, a chemical reaction occurs which creates one molecule of peroxyacid ester and two molecules of phenol. Energy is released by the spontaneous decomposition of peroyacid into carbon dioxide which then excites the dye which releases a photon. The structure of the dye determines the colour of the emitted light. Who would have thought? I always took for granted that glow sticks simply emitted a fluorescent light when I snapped them!