Triboluminescence is an optical phenomenon in which light is generated when material is pulled apart, ripped, scratched, crushed, or rubbed (see tribology) through the breaking of chemical bonds in the material. The phenomenon is not fully understood, but appears to be caused by the separation and reunification of electrical charges. The term comes from the Greek τριβείν (to rub) and the Latin lumen (light). Triboluminescence can be observed when breaking sugar crystals (especially Wint-O-Green Life Savers) and peeling adhesive tapes.
Triboluminescence is often used as a synonym for fractoluminescence (a term sometimes used when referring only to light emitted from fractured crystals). Triboluminescence differs from piezoluminescence in that a piezoluminescent material emits light when it is deformed, as opposed to broken. These are examples of mechanoluminescence, which is luminescence resulting from any mechanical action on a solid.
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The Uncompahgre Ute Indians 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. The Ute constructed special 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.
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."[1] The scientist Robert Boyle also reported on some of his work on triboluminescence in 1663. 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 cone of sugar had to be broken into usable chunks using a device known as sugar nips. People began to notice that as sugar was "nipped" in low light, tiny bursts of light were visible.
A historically important instance of triboluminescence occurred in Paris 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. Whenever the mercury slid down the glass tube, the empty space above the mercury would glow. While investigating this phenomenon, researchers discovered that static electricity could cause low-pressure air to glow. This discovery revealed the possibility of electric lighting.[2]
Materials scientists have not yet arrived at a full understanding of the effect, but 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 electric discharge ionizes the surrounding air, causing a flash of light. Research further suggests that crystals which display triboluminescence must lack symmetry (in order to permit charge separation) and be poor conductors. However, there are substances which break this rule, and which do not possess asymmetry, yet display triboluminescence anyway. It is thought that these materials contain impurities, which confer properties of asymmetry to the substance. Much of the recent work on triboluminescence was done by Linda M. Sweeting at Towson University.
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 rocks are triboluminescent, emitting light when rubbed together.[3]
Ordinary friction tape (the cloth type — not the shiny electrician's tape) displays a glowing line where the end of the tape is being pulled away from the roll.[4] According to popular news media, this phenomenon has been observed in 1953 and in 2008 by scientists peeling a roll of Scotch Tape in vacuum, producing energy equivalent to X-rays[5][6]
Many self-sealing postal envelopes will produce a blue glow when opened in the dark or in low-light conditions.
Also, when sugar crystals are crushed, tiny electrical fields are created, separating positive and negative charges that then 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.[7][8]
Some Band Aid wrappers and Breathe Right wrappers also glow bluish-green when unwrapped swiftly.
Powders in gel capsules can emit flashes of light that are visible in the dark. It may make a difference what the powder is. L-Tryptophan is a sleep aid and essential amino acid. The house brand of L-Tryptophan gel capsules from the US chain store Vitamin Shoppe do this when being shaken out of the bottle.
Fractoluminescence is often used as a synonym for triboluminescence.[9] 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.
This phenomenon can be demonstrated by removing ice from a freezer in a darkened room, under conditions in which the 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.