​How can photoluminescent tapes be used in toys?

You can see photoluminescent tapes in all kinds of places, but they are most common in toys. For example, a glow-in-the-dark yo-yo, a glow-in-the-dark ball, a glow-in-the-dark cell phone, and even (if you can believe it) a pair of glow-in-the-dark pajamas! These things make it easy for children to find at night.

Here is the content list:

1. Do photoluminescent tapes need to be "recharged"?

2. What is the phosphor contained in photoluminescent tapes?

3. How do I make a photoluminescent tapes toy?

Do photoluminescent tapes need to be "recharged"?

If you have seen any photoluminescent tapes, you know that they have to be "charged". You hold them up to the light and then bring them to a dark place. In the dark, they will glow for 10 minutes. Some of the newer photoluminescent tapes products will glow for hours. Usually, it is a soft green light and not very bright. You need to be in almost total darkness to notice it.

Occasionally you will see something glowing, but it doesn't need to be charged. The most common place to see it is in the hands of expensive watches. In these photoluminescent tapes products, the phosphor is mixed with a radioactive element, and the radioactive emission (see How Nuclear Radiation Works) keeps the phosphor continuously energized. In the past, this radioactive element was radium, which has a half-life of 1,600 years. Today, most luminescent watches use a radioactive isotope of hydrogen called tritium (which has a half-life of 12 years) or promethium, a man-made radioactive element with a half-life of about three years.

What is the phosphor contained in photoluminescent tapes?

All photoluminescent tapes contain phosphors. A phosphor is a substance that emits visible light when it is energized. The two places where we see phosphors most often are in television screens or computer monitors and fluorescent lamps. In a TV screen, an electron beam impinges on the phosphor to energize it. In a fluorescent lamp, ultraviolet light energizes the phosphor. In both cases, what we see is visible light. A color TV screen contains thousands of tiny phosphor image elements that emit three different colors (red, green, and blue). In the case of fluorescent lights, there is usually a mixture of phosphors that work together to create what appears to us to be white light.

Chemists have created thousands of chemicals that behave like phosphors. Phosphors have three characteristics:

1. The type of energy they require to be energized.

2. The color of the visible light they produce.

3. The length of time they glow after being energized (called the persistence of the phosphor).

How do I make a photoluminescent tapes toy?

To make a photoluminescent tapes toy, you need a phosphor that can be excited by normal light and has a long persistence. Two phosphors with these properties are zinc sulfide and strontium aluminate. Strontium aluminate is newer -- it's what you see in the "super" photoluminescent tapes toys. It lasts much longer than zinc sulfide. The phosphor is mixed into the plastic and molded into most photoluminescent tape products.

With the above, you should have learned how photoluminescent tape works and how to make photoluminescent tape toys. Then you should choose high-quality photoluminescent tapes to make your photoluminescent tapes toy. I recommend you choose the photoluminescent tape produced by Wenzhou Xiangying Reflective Material Science＆Technology Co., Ltd.