EU Scientists use silver to make lights shine more brightly

A team of international scientists from the EU-funded SACS project has published a study that highlights a promising solution for eliminating the toxic and expensive phosphors used in fluorescent lighting.

The toxic and expensive phosphors used widely in fluorescent lighting could be eliminated thanks to a new study conducted by a materials scientist at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), who is a member of the SACS project consortium.

Writing in the journal Nature Materials, the project modified a zeolite mineral to incorporate tiny clusters of silver atoms. At this very small scale (less than 10 atoms), the silver clusters have been shown to be able to emit light.

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