Forest visitors have long known that some trees glow, but scientists only recently harnessed this capability as a sustainable, nontoxic alternative to traditional phosphorescent materials.
Scientists believe they can harness wood’s natural ability to glow to develop a phosphorescent material that can be used in a variety of applications, including ‘glow in the dark’ paint and dyes, as well as medical imaging and optical sensing.
In their paper, published in Cell Reports: Physical Science, an international team investigated the natural phosphorescent properties of lignin, a major component of wood.
