PETALING JAYA: A Malaysian team is part of a research group that has succeeded in creating a special molecule that could lead to building better lights and sensors.
It is a ground-breaking discovery of a new glow-in-the-dark material, said Assoc Prof Dr Woon Kai Lin (pic), who led the study at the Universiti Malaya (UM) Physics Department.
The scientific breakthrough was achieved by researchers from Malaysia, France and Lithuania.In a study funded by the European Union programme Horizon2020, the team from UM, CY Paris Cergy and Kaunas University of Technology created a special molecule that can simultaneously glow in two different ways, with both a steady, slow shine and a quick flash.
The researchers found that if the new material comes in contact with even the tiniest amounts of oxygen in the air, the colour of its light will change.
“These findings open up possibilities for building better lights and sensors for a wide range of applications,” said Woon.
He said the new molecule, known as DBIPOAc, is unique because it can shine light at high energies.
“This was considered almost impossible, as phosphorescence and fluorescence came from molecules shining when at lower energy states.
Ground-breaking: An impression of the DBIPOAc molecule.
“Imagine climbing a ladder – you usually slide to the lowest step before jumping off.
“Molecules do the same, glowing from the lowest energy level.
“But here, the molecule skips sliding down and jumps off from higher steps,” he said, adding that the new material was first observed in the collaborators’ labs before it was simulated and its properties explained theoretically by the UM group.
“It is fascinating to discover that what we once took as textbook knowledge can be challenged and redefined.
“This breakthrough is a testament to the power of interdisciplinary collaboration across continents, as teams worked together to push the boundaries of fundamental science,” he said.
Explaining the significance of the fluorescence and phosphorescence study, Woon said for close to a century, scientists believed that organic molecules, made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen, could only shine with the short burst of fluorescence and would emit the long-lasting glow of phosphorescence only inside labs with temperatures of minus 200°C.
“This changed with the new material that does both at room temperature, thanks to its novel geometry which alters the levels of energy of the molecules.
“This was not known before because no one had made such ‘crazy’ molecules,” he said.
Fluorescence is a short burst of light, like a light bulb – it lights up a room instantly when turned on but stops glowing as soon as it is switched off.
Citing glow-in-the-dark stickers as an example, Woon said phosphorescence “soaks up” light and when the flashlight is turned off they continue glowing softly for a while.
This ground-breaking discovery challenges challenging conventional textbook knowledge and opens up a swarm of lighting, sensors and quantum computing apps.
The new study was published in the Advanced Optical Materials journal about three months ago.
