Triboluminescence Explained

Triboluminescence is a phenomenon in which light is generated when a material is mechanically pulled apart, ripped, scratched, crushed, or rubbed (see tribology). The phenomenon is not fully understood but appears in most cases to be caused by the separation and reunification of static electric charges, see also triboelectric effect. The term comes from the Greek τρίβειν ("to rub"; see tribology) and the Latin lumen (light). Triboluminescence can be observed when breaking sugar crystals and peeling adhesive tapes.

Triboluminescence is often a synonym for fractoluminescence (a term mainly used when referring only to light emitted from fractured crystals). Triboluminescence differs from piezoluminescence in that a piezoluminescent material emits light when deformed, as opposed to broken. These are examples of mechanoluminescence, which is luminescence resulting from any mechanical action on a solid.

History

Quartz rattlers of the Uncompahgre Ute indigenous people

The Uncompahgre Ute indigenous people from Central Colorado are one of the first documented groups of people in the world credited with the application of mechanoluminescence involving the use of quartz crystals to generate light.^{[1] [2]} The Ute constructed unique ceremonial rattles made from buffalo rawhide which they filled with clear quartz crystals collected from the mountains of Colorado and Utah. When the rattles were shaken at night during ceremonies, the friction and mechanical stress of the quartz crystals impacting together produced flashes of light visible through the translucent buffalo hide.

Early scientific reports

The first recorded observation is attributed to English scholar Francis Bacon when he recorded in his 1620 Novum Organum that "It is well known that all sugar, whether candied or plain, if it be hard, will sparkle when broken or scraped in the dark."^[3] The scientist Robert Boyle also reported on some of his work on triboluminescence in 1663.^[4] In 1675. Astronomer Jean-Felix Picard observed that his barometer was glowing in the dark as he carried it. His barometer consisted of a glass tube that was partially filled with mercury. The empty space above the mercury would glow whenever the mercury slid down the glass tube.^[5]

In the late 1790s, sugar production began to produce more refined sugar crystals. These crystals were formed into a large solid cone for transport and sale. This solid sugar cone had to be broken into usable chunks using a sugar nips device. People began to notice that tiny bursts of light were visible as sugar was "nipped" in low light, an established example of triboluminescence.^[6]

Mechanism of action

There remain a few ambiguities about the effect. The current theory of triboluminescence—based upon crystallographic, spectroscopic, and other experimental evidence—is that upon fracture of asymmetrical materials, charge is separated. When the charges recombine, the electrical discharge ionizes the surrounding air, causing a flash of light. Research further suggests that crystals that display triboluminescence often lack symmetry and are poor conductors.^[7] However, there are substances which break this rule, and which do not possess asymmetry, yet display triboluminescence, such as hexakis(antipyrine)terbium iodide.^[8] It is thought that these materials contain impurities, which make the substance locally asymmetric. Further information on some of the possible processes involved can be found in the page on the triboelectric effect.

The biological phenomenon of triboluminescence is thought to be controlled by recombination of free radicals during mechanical activation.

Examples

In common materials

Certain household materials and substances can be seen to exhibit the property:

• Ordinary pressure-sensitive tape ("Scotch tape") displays a glowing line where the end of the tape is being pulled away from the roll.^[9] Soviet scientists observed in 1953 that unpeeling a roll of tape in a vacuum produced X-rays.^[10] The mechanism of X-ray generation was studied further in 2008.^{[11] [12] [13]} Similar X-ray emissions have also been observed with metals.^[14]
• Opening an envelope sealed with polymer glue may generate light that can be viewed as blue flashes in darkness.^[15]
• When sugar crystals are crushed, tiny electrical fields are created, separating positive and negative charges that create sparks while trying to reunite. Wint-O-Green Life Savers work especially well for creating such sparks, because wintergreen oil (methyl salicylate) is fluorescent and converts ultraviolet light into blue light.^{[16] [17]}

A diamond may begin to glow while being rubbed; this occasionally happens to diamonds while a facet is being ground or the diamond is being sawn during the cutting process. Diamonds may fluoresce blue or red. Some other minerals, such as quartz, are triboluminescent, emitting light when rubbed together.^[18]

Triboluminescence as a biological phenomenon is observed in mechanical deformation and contact electrification of epidermal surface of osseous and soft tissues, during chewing food, at friction in joints of vertebrae, during sexual intercourse, and during blood circulation.^{[19] [20]}

Water jet abrasive cutting of ceramics (e.g., tiles) creates a yellow/orange glow at the point of impact of very high-speed flow.

Chemicals notable for their triboluminescence

• Europium tetrakis (dibenzoylmethide)triethylammonium emits particularly bright red flashes upon the destruction of its crystals.^{[21] [22]}
• Triphenylphosphinebis(pyridine)thiocyanatocopper(I) emits a reasonably strong blue light when crystals of it are fractured. This luminescence is not as extreme as the red luminescence; however, it is still very clearly visible to the naked eye in standard settings.^{[23] [24]}
• N-acetylanthranilic acid emits a deep blue light when its crystals are fractured.^[25]

Fractoluminescence

Fractoluminescence is often used as a synonym for triboluminescence. It is the emission of light from the fracture (rather than rubbing) of a crystal, but fracturing often occurs with rubbing. Depending upon the atomic and molecular composition of the crystal, when the crystal fractures, a charge separation can occur, making one side of the fractured crystal positively charged and the other side negatively charged. Like in triboluminescence, if the charge separation results in a large enough electric potential, a discharge across the gap and through the bath gas between the interfaces can occur. The potential at which this occurs depends upon the dielectric properties of the bath gas.^[26]

EMR propagation during fracturing

The emission of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) during plastic deformation and crack propagation in metals and rocks has been studied. The EMR emissions from metals and alloys have also been explored and confirmed. Molotskii presented a dislocation mechanism for this type of EMR emission. In 2005, Srilakshmi and Misra reported an additional phenomenon of secondary EMR during plastic deformation and crack propagation in uncoated and metal-coated metals and alloys.^[27]

EMR during the micro-plastic deformation and crack propagation from several metals and alloys and transient magnetic field generation during necking in ferromagnetic metals were reported by Misra (1973–75), which have been confirmed and explored by several researchers.^[28] Tudik and Valuev (1980) were able to measure the EMR frequency during tensile fracture of iron and aluminum in the region 100 THz by using photomultipliers. Srilakshmi and Misra (2005a) also reported an additional phenomenon of secondary electromagnetic radiation in uncoated and metal-coated metals and alloys. If a solid material is subjected to stresses of large amplitudes, which can cause plastic deformation and fracture, emissions such as thermal, acoustic, ions, and exo-emissions occur.

Deformation induced EMR

The study of deformation is essential for the development of new materials. Deformation in metals depends on temperature, type of stress applied, strain rate, oxidation, and corrosion. Deformation-induced EMR can be divided into three categories: effects in ionic crystal materials, effects in rocks and granites, and effects in metals and alloys. EMR emission depends on the orientation of the grains in individual crystals since material properties are different in differing directions. Amplitude of the EMR pulse increases as long as the crack grows as new atomic bonds are broken, leading to EMR. The Pulse starts to decay as the cracking halts.^[29] Observations from experiments showed that emitted EMR signals contain mixed frequency components.

Test methods to measure EMR

The most widely used tensile test method is used to characterize the mechanical properties of materials. From any complete tensile test record, one can obtain important information about the material's elastic properties, the character and extent of plastic deformation, yield, and tensile strengths and toughness. The information obtained from one test justifies the extensive use of tensile tests in engineering materials research. Therefore, investigations of EMR emissions are mainly based on the tensile test of the specimens. From experiments, it can be shown that tensile crack formation excites more intensive EMR than shear cracking, increasing the elasticity, strength, and loading rate during uniaxial loading increases amplitude. Poisson's ratio is a key parameter for EMR characterization during triaxial compression. If the Poisson's ratio is lower, it is harder for the material to strain transversally and hence there is a higher probability of new fractures.

See also

• Earthquake light
• List of light sources
• Piezoelectricity
• Sonoluminescence
• Triboelectric effect

Further reading

• Martín Gil . Jesús . Martín Gil . Francisco J. . Triboluminescence of new uranyl salts . Journal of Chemical Education . 1978 . 55 . 5 . 340 . 10.1021/ed055p340 . 1978JChEd..55..340G .
• Exploring Triboluminescence and Paramagnetism: A Rapid Mn Complex Synthesis for High School and Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratories . Journal of Chemical Education . 2023 . Matousek et al.. 100 . 8 . 3061–3069 . 10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00372 . 260181412 . free .
• Web site: Wintergreen Candy and Other Triboluminescent Materials . Scientific Experiments at Home . Towson University . Department of Chemistry . Lind M. . Sweeting . Sep 1998 .
• Walton . A. J. . Triboluminescence . Advances in Physics . 1977 . 26 . 6 . 887–948 . 10.1080/00018737700101483 .
• Xie . Y. . Li . Z. . Triboluminescence: recalling interest and new aspects . Chem. 2018 . 4 . 5 . 943–971 . 10.1016/j.chempr.2018.01.001 .

External links

• Web site: Sound Science Behind Glowing Sugar . 2006 . Physics World . 0 . Jon . Cartwright .
• Correlation between nanosecond X-ray flashes and stick–slip friction in peeling tape . Nature . 455 . 7216 . 1089–1092 . Oct 23, 2008 . 10.1038/nature07378 . 0 . Carlos G. . Camara1 . Juan V. . Escobar1 . Jonathan R. . Hird1 . Seth J. . Putterman . 2008Natur.455.1089C . 4372536 .
• Triboluminescence Discussion on Tribo Net
• (2010)
• Bandaids glow when opening?! - Everyday Mysteries on Youtube (2018)

Notes and References

1. Web site: BBC Big Bang on triboluminescence . 2019-12-25 . 2019-12-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191221213016/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bang/handson/sugar_glow.shtml . live .
2. Dawson . Timothy . 2010 . Changing colors: now you see them, now you don't . Coloration Technology . 126. 4 . 177–188. 10.1111/j.1478-4408.2010.00247.x .
3. Bacon, Francis. Novum Organum
4. Book: Boyle, Robert . 1663 . A COPY OF THE LETTER That Mr. Boyle wrote to Sir Robert Morray, to accompany the Observations touch∣ing the Shining Diamond. . Experiments and considerations touching colours first occasionally written, among some other essays to a friend, and now suffer'd to come abroad as the beginning of an experimental history of colours . 391–411.
5. (Staff) . Experience faire à l'Observatoire sur la Barometre simple touchant un nouveau Phenomene qu'on y a découvert . Journal des Sçavans (Paris edition) . 1676 . 112–113 . Experiment done at the [Paris] observatory on a simple barometer concerning a new phenomenon that was discovered there . fr.
6. Wick . Frances G. . 1940 . Triboluminescence of Sugar . JOSA . en . 30 . 7 . 302–306 . 10.1364/JOSA.30.000302.
7. Fontenot . R. S. . Bhat . K. N. . Hollerman . W. A. . Aggarwal . M. D. . Nguyen . K. M. . Comparison of the triboluminescent yield and decay time for europium dibenzoylmethide triethylammonium synthesized using different solvents . CrystEngComm . Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) . 14 . 4 . 2012 . 1466-8033 . 10.1039/c2ce06277a . 1382–1386.
8. W. Clegg, G. Bourhill and I. Sage. Hexakis(antipyrine-O)terbium(III) triiodide at 160 K: confirmation of a centrosymmetric structure for a brilliantly triboluminescent complex. Acta Crystallographica Section E. April 2002 . 58. 4. 10.1107/S1600536802005093. free. m159–m161.
9. Sanderson . Katharine . Sticky tape generates X-rays . Nature . 22 October 2008 . news.2008.1185 . 10.1038/news.2008.1185 .
10. Book: Karasev . V. V . Krotova . N. A . Deryagin . Boris Vladimirovich . A study of electron emission during the stripping a layer of a high polymer from glass in a vacuum . 1953 . 1037003456 .
11. Camara . C. G. . Escobar . J. V. . Hird . J. R. . Putterman . S. J. . 2008 . Correlation between nanosecond X-ray flashes and stick-slip friction in peeling tape . Nature . 455 . 7216. 1089–1092 . 10.1038/nature07378. 2008Natur.455.1089C . 4372536 .
12. News: Scotch Tape Unleashes X-Ray Power. The New York Times. 2008-10-23. Chang. Kenneth. 2017-02-25. 2017-09-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20170930144127/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/science/28xray.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin. live.
13. Katherine Bourzac . X-Rays Made with Scotch Tape . Technology Review . 2008-10-23 . 2012-10-09 . 2012-05-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120514123044/http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/22157/ . live .
14. Krishna . G N . S.K.Roy . Chowdhury . Biswas . A. . X-Ray Emission during Rubbing of Metals . Tribology in Industry . 36 . 3 . 2014 . 229–235 . .
15. Alexander . Andrew J. . Interfacial Ion-Transfer Mechanism for the Intense Luminescence Observed When Opening Self-Seal Envelopes . Langmuir . American Chemical Society (ACS) . 28 . 37 . 5 September 2012 . 0743-7463 . 10.1021/la302689y . 13294–13299. 22924818 . 20.500.11820/78782d2a-b87f-4fda-813c-6a282d1fd9c6 . 32480331 . free .
16. Web site: Triboluminescence. https://web.archive.org/web/20091020194439/http://geocities.com/RainForest/9911/tribo.htm . dead . 2009-10-20 .
17. Web site: Triboluminescence . Sciencenews.org . 1997-05-17 . 2012-10-09 . 1997-06-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/19970626080535/http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc97/5_17_97/fob2.htm . dead .
18. Web site: Rockhounding Arkansas: Experiments with Quartz . Rockhoundingar.com . 2012-10-09 . 2012-04-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120424062435/http://rockhoundingar.com/experiments.php . live .
19. Book: Orel . V.E. . Triboluminescence as a biological phenomenion and methods for its investigation . 1989 . World Scientific . 9789810204051 . Biological luminescence : proceedings of the first international school, Książ Castle, Wrocław, Poland, June 20-23, 1989 . Singapore . 131–147 . 10.13140/RG.2.1.2298.5443.
20. Orel . Valeri E. . Alekseyev . Sergei B. . Grinevich . Yuri A. . Mechanoluminescence: An assay for lymphocyte analysis in neoplasia . Journal of Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence . October 1992 . 7 . 4 . 239–244 . 10.1002/bio.1170070403 . 1442175 .
21. Hurt . C. R. . Mcavoy . N. . Bjorklund . S. . Filipescu . N. . High Intensity Triboluminescence in Europium Tetrakis (Dibenzoylmethide)-triethylammonium . Nature . October 1966 . 212 . 5058 . 179–180 . 10.1038/212179b0 . 1966Natur.212R.179H . 4165699 .
22. Fontenot . Ross . Bhat . Kamala . Hollerman . William A . Aggarwal . Mohan . Europium Tetrakis Dibenzoylmethide Triethylammonium: Synthesis, Additives, and Applications Review . ECS Meeting Abstracts . 1 September 2016 . MA2016-02 . 42 . 3158 . 10.1149/ma2016-02/42/3158 .
23. Web site: Make Blue Smash-Glow Crystals (Triboluminescence Demonstration). YouTube.
24. Marchetti . Fabio . Di Nicola . Corrado . Pettinari . Riccardo . Timokhin . Ivan . Pettinari . Claudio . Synthesis of a Photoluminescent and Triboluminescent Copper(I) Compound: An Experiment for an Advanced Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory . Journal of Chemical Education . 10 April 2012 . 89 . 5 . 652–655 . 10.1021/ed2001494 . 2012JChEd..89..652M .
25. Erikson J . N-acetylanthranilic acid. A highly triboluminescent material . J Chem Educ . Oct 1972 . 49 . 10 . 688 . 10.1021/ed049p688 . 1972JChEd..49..688E .
26. Note: This phenomenon can be demonstrated by removing ice from a freezer in a darkened room where ice makes cracking sounds from sudden thermal expansion. If the ambient light is dim enough, flashes of white light from the cracking ice can be observed.
27. Srilakshmi . B. . Misra . A. . Secondary electromagnetic radiation during plastic deformation and crack propagation in uncoated and tin coated plain-carbon steel . Journal of Materials Science . Springer Science and Business Media LLC . 40 . 23 . 8 September 2005 . 0022-2461 . 10.1007/s10853-005-1293-4 . 6079–6086. 135922668 .
28. Chauhan . Vishal S. . Misra . Ashok . Electromagnetic radiation during plastic deformation under unrestricted quasi-static compression in metals and alloys . International Journal of Materials Research . Walter de Gruyter GmbH . 101 . 7 . 1 July 2010 . 2195-8556 . 10.3139/146.110355 . 857–864. 138866328 .
29. Frid . V . Rabinovitch . A . Bahat . D . Fracture induced electromagnetic radiation . Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics . 7 July 2003 . 36 . 13 . 1620–1628 . 10.1088/0022-3727/36/13/330 . 2003JPhD...36.1620F . 250758753 .