Glow-inducing nanoparticles turn your houseplants into night lights
newatlas.com
Wouldn't it be great if the plants in your home could do more than just sit there looking pretty? Researchers at South China Agricultural University in the city of Guangzhou have found a way to upgrade them into soft glowing night lights in a range of hues, with the use of nanoparticles.

Wouldn’t it be great if the plants in your home could do more than just sit there looking pretty? Researchers at South China Agricultural University in the city of Guangzhou have found a way to upgrade them into soft glowing night lights in a range of hues, with the use of nanoparticles.

  • Otter@lemmy.caEnglish
    3·
    20 days ago

    Oh, I thought this was going to be the genetic modification type. Rather it’s injecting the plant with some (hopefully harmless) glow stick liquid?

    The team developed a light-emitting phosphor compound that enabled succulents with fleshy leaves to charge in sunlight or indoor LED light in just a couple of minutes, and then emit a soft uniform glow that lasts up to two hours.

    The afterglow phosphor compound – which is similar to those found in glow-in-the-dark toys – is inexpensive, biocompatible, and negates the need for more complex methods of infusing bioluminescence in plants, like genetic modification. It simply gets injected into the leaves.

    • Eheran@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      19 days ago

      No, this is not a chemical reaction. This is phosphorescence, the same as the classical glow in the dark stuff that charges with light.