Nanotechnologies: from fireflies the future of LED bulbs without electricity?

    How to get light without electricity? It could be the fireflies to teach us. These insects of the beetle family again arouse the attention of the world of scientific research, with a view to determining new perspectives for identifying alternative light sources to apply to our daily life. The phenomenon of illumination of fireflies, called bioluminescence, was recently replicated in the laboratory in the United States, giving rise to interesting results.



    He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him

    How to get light without electricity? They could be the Fireflies to teach us. These insects of the beetle family again attract the attention of the world of scientific research, with a view to determining new perspectives for the identification of alternative light sources to apply to our daily life. The phenomenon of lighting typical of fireflies, said bioluminescenza, Was recently replicated in the laboratory in the United States, giving rise to interesting results.



    The studies in question were disseminated in recent days through an article published on the Syracuse University website, which sees as the author Judy Holmes, who is responsible for disseminating the new discoveries and research in progress in the university located in the state of New York. . The researchers were found to be able to replicate a system for the production of light proved to be twenty to thirty times more efficient than previous attempts.

    This was possible thanks to the size and structure of the quantum nanorodes produced in the laboratory by Mathew Maye, assistant professor of chemistry at Syracuse College of Arts and Sciences, and di Rebeka Alam, PhD candidate in chemistry. The official results of the experiments carried out were published by Nano Letters, one of the leading journals of the American Chemical Society, in a document entitled "Designing Quantum Rods for Optimized Energy Transfer with Firefly Luciferase Enzymes".

    Nanotechnologies: from fireflies the future of LED bulbs without electricity?

    Fireflies produce light through one chemical reaction which occurs between luciferin and the enzyme luciferase. The enzyme luciferase was applied to the nanorodes and later luciferin came into play, which functioned as a kind of fuel. When luciferin and luciferase interact, energy is released and transferred to the nanorodes, causing them to illuminate. This process is called Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET).

    The nanorodes used in the laboratory have been manipulated in order to obtain shades of light that are impossible for fireflies to produce. Orange and green glows were obtained in the laboratory. The particular nanorodes used for the experiments would currently be present only in the laboratory of Syracuse University. Further research is still ongoing to convert chemical energy into light even more effectively. Experts do not rule out that this may have a future of application in LED technology, allowing to obtain luminous devices able to work without needing to be connected to a power socket.



    Marta Albè

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