Image capture from ViolentKisses87’s YouTube channel • Mexican researchers created glow-in-the-dark cement
• Certain additives were mixed with the raw materials for making cement, making it phosphorescent
• The phosphorescent cement absorbs ultraviolet rays during the day, and emit the radiation as light when it’s dark
Researchers in Mexico created a type of cement that could glow without using electricity.
The team of researchers from the Michoacan University of San Nicolás de Hidalgo led by Jose Carlos Rubio Avalos mixed additives to raw materials used in making cement to modify its optical properties and make it phosphorescent.
“Cement is an opaque body, it does not allow the passage of light to the interior, so we must make a change in its microstructure to allow a partial entry of light into the interior for it to have this behavior,” Rubio Avalos said.
As noted in Futurism, phosphorescent materials work by absorbing energy from radiation, and later, they emit it as light, which can then be seen once it gets dark.
This means that during daylight, the phosphorescent cement absorbs radiation such as ultraviolet sun rays and when it is dark, it emits the stored radiation as light. Even on cloudy days, the special cement can still absorb enough energy to make it glow for up to 12 hours.
A researcher said the energy-efficient road is worth developing for developing countries.
“It’s an application that can be worth developing in countries and areas with poor access to electricity in communities with poor life levels, as it doesn’t consume electricity,” Carmen Andrade, a researcher at the Spanish National Research Council said.
She added that “cement is a very alkaline material, so the stability of these compounds should be studied and also how to repair it.”
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