Make Glow in the Dark Powder - The Science

In this video we make phosphorescent or "Glow in the Dark" strontium aluminate powder.

Special thanks to Stanford Advanced Materials for providing the metals: https://www.samaterials.com/
   / @stanfordadvancedmaterials4470  

To make strontium aluminate we first need to make our precursors. Calcium ammonium nitrate can be obtained directly from fertilizers and is recrystallized to improve the purity. Strontium nitrate is made by reacting strontium carbonate with nitric acid. Strontium carbonate can be obtained for making pottery glazes. Aluminum nitrate is more difficult as it must first be dissolved with hydrochloric acid before it's reacted with excess nitric acid to destroy the chloride ions. Europium and dysprosium nitrates are made by reacting the metal samples directly with nitric acid.

Once the metal nitrates are obtained, strontium aluminate is made by mixing 1.058g of strontium nitrate with 3.75g of aluminum nitrate nonahydrate, 7.5mg of europium metal equivalent, 16mg of dysprosium metal equivalent. 61 mg of boric acid, and 20g of diesel exhaust fluid. The mixture is heated in a microwave at high power until it ignites. This burns to produce strontium aluminate.

Check out Apoptosis' video on the same subject:    • Making Glowing Paint from Aluminum  


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