Glow-in-the-dark Succulents: A Potential Evolution in Ambient Lighting Technology
Luminous plants are beautiful. And it turns out there is a simple method to load luminescent particles into the leaves of succulents to make them look prettier – and even more useful.
In a study published today in researchers show succulents that glow in the dark, recharging with sunlight. For years, science and engineering have dreamed of plants that light up, a sustainable source of light, but almost all attempts at genetic engineering yielded limited results.
The new method has nothing to do with plant genetics. Scientists injected tiny glowing particles into the leaves, phosphorescent substances with luminescence similar to those used for toys. The succulents lit up with a brighter light. This method is much cheaper than genetic engineering and so far does not seem to have harmed the plants. Most importantly, succulents now come in different colors.
“We were especially inspired by the fact that inorganic persistent luminescent materials can ‘charge’ with light and then slowly release it,” Shuting Liu, lead author and bioengineer at the South China Agricultural University, told Gizmodo.
The team wanted to see if they could integrate these phosphorescent materials into plants “to go beyond the usual color limitations in plant luminescence, so that they had a new, photosynthesis-independent way of storing and releasing light. A living lamp plant, charged with light,” Liu explained.
Succulents are suitable
Succulents weren’t the first choice in this study. They have thicker tissues, so researchers assumed that the particles would be trapped on the surface or in the roots. So they thought it best to use plants with thinner leaves like golden pothos or bok choy.
But to their surprise, in their experiments, they found that succulents “have a greater loading capacity and more uniform luminescence,” as indicated in their work. Specifically, the particles traveled more efficiently through the narrow, uniform channels of the leaves. After identifying the best candidate, the team went through trial and error to find the optimal particle size, injection pressure and volume, and substrate porosity.
They finally arrived at a simple and low-cost formula that loads the particles into the plant’s cell wall, the leaf section where photosynthesis occurs. This wall is “a luminescent wall” that houses the particles, according to Liu. Each particle measures about seven micrometers, approximately the width of a red blood cell.
Depending on the substance type, succulents emitted a different light tone – green, red, or blue – and retained their glow after being ‘charged’ with sunlight or LED light. Using the green light preferred by Liu, the team created a wall of luminous succulents to illuminate everyday objects like a book or a figurine.
“I also like cyan and red colors because they are so novel, and it’s striking to see a living plant emitting light of different colors,” he said. “Those tones make me imagine a future with a plant emitting white light, visually pleasing and potentially more practical as ambient light.”
The new achievement paints a promising future for sustainable lighting using plants. For now, Liu wants to “continue with long-term and rigorous biosafety evaluations” to ensure that it is a future that is also good for succulents.
This article has been translated from Gizmodo US by Lucas Handley. You can find the original version.
