Make Glow Sticks - The Science

We show how to make glow sticks and go through all the chemicals needed as well as how to make different colors. We also talk about the chemistry and scientifically research a proposed mechanism.

To make the glow stick mix together the following:

10mL Diethyl Phthalate (solvent)
3mg of fluorescent dye (see below)
50mg TCPO (see below)
100mg sodium acetate
3mL 30% hydrogen peroxide (add last to start reaction)

The fluorescent dye can be 9,10-bis(phenylethynyl)anthracene for green, Rubrene for yellow, 9,10-diphenylanthracene for blue, and rhodamine B for red.

TCPO is expensive to buy but can be made for much cheaper by following the directions in our previous video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViJknvEEEOA

The chemicals, including the ones to make TCPO were purchased from alfa aesar: http://www.alfa.com

The Rhodamine B and Rubrene dyes were instead purchased from sigma Aldrich: http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/

The dyes and TCPO are carcinogenic and gloves should be worn when handling them.

The TCPO and sodium acetate amounts can be varied considerably and still obtain good light. Smaller quantities tend to be dimmer and decay faster, while larger quantities last longer.

For those of you higher level individuals that actually do want to know the mechanism for this process, please refer to this article: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ja808401p

Category:

Education

Tags:

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• chemiluminescence
• TCPO
• trichlorophenyl
• diphenyl
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• peroxylate
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[OotuamigoO]

Alexelcapo nos trajo aqui!

[TheTwilighterfan1]

the voice scares me

[irllcd13]

does more TCP0 = brighter or just longer lasting?

[Zwank36]

Can you make UV ones?

[SpeedinHawk]

How high pitched must your voice be that you have to edit it like this?

[iTzBRYANT114]

EASY WAY

rubbing alcohol + pool tablets

you're welcome

[KITTY13307]

A GREEN GLOW STICK...... IT LOOKS LYK A GREEN GLOW JAR

[mariacristinna]

hate this shit my poop is more fluorescent than this!!!

[MrHuevosdeHierro]

hee??? si yo estaba viendo alexelcapo --- tu tambien no?

[coolgirl2003vv]

@TheTwilighterfan1 ur true ur not the only one

[MsLeogro]

@fidenciofidencio Solo se necesita ingles basico... tengo 13 años y entiendo el 99% de lo que dice....

[EighthSamuel]

hooo, está genial, con un ingles básico se entiende:D