The Wonders of Light Sticks

Now my fellow scientist of this world. As I speak, there are tons of light shining in my room. But they will soon be turned off and replaced with some other artificial light. To be exact, it is chemical light. To be 'exactess', it is the light stick. The light stick is one of the things in the world that really amazes me. Science revolves around it pretty much, but it is a sad thing that not a lot of people notice them much. It is a common sight at night concerts, at the military, at a diving club. But is there anyone who ever thinks of the chemistry behind it? Well, I shall uncover the 'amazingness' of the light stick to you.


So, how do light sticks work? That is a lot of chemistry. That's right, light sticks work by chemical reaction. Before telling you how it works, I guess it will be necessary for me to tell you the chemicals involved first. First up, we have hydrogen peroxide, followed by phenyle oxalate. Last but not least, a fluorescent dye to give the light its colour. To say it the simple way, the first two chemicals will first mix together to release a whole ton of energy. This energy excites the electrons of the fluorescent dye so much that these electrons go high with energy level and releases light.

For real chemistry crazy fans, I shall give you the exact details: The hydrogen peroxide oxidises the phenyl oxalate ester, to form phenol and an unstable peroxyacid ester. The unstable peroxyacid ester decomposes, resulting in phenol and a cyclic peroxy compound. The cyclic peroxy compound decomposes to carbon dioxide. This decomposition reaction releases the energy that excites the dye which cause them to release light photons.

Okay, that may sound as scientific as you thought, but at least for me, I find it quite enough for my standard of chemistry. To be exact, my head is spinning when I read this. Anyway, I just have this thought, if the world has enough resources to create such chemicals in great abundance, wouldn't it be great if the world can be lighted by light sticks? Currently, light sticks are only used for commercial use during a concert or for use by those goofy adventurers and soldiers. Don't you think it might be better with this light sticks illuminating the whole world? They look more stylish than the ordinary fluorescent light we have in the house (or LED light for those incredibly rich people).

Enough talk here, since I am finding that these light sticks are reminding me of Star Wars. Well, they do look like light sabers. With that, I commence this post to a close, with a video to greet you of course. A better, and much more detailed explanation on light sticks. It even teaches you how to make one.
TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK