Although some glow products claim to be able to glow for 8 hours, glowing performance is totally different from the product that is tested under conditions which conform with global standard.
Concerning about glow material
There are many kinds of glow material and glowing behavior. It can be classified into two main categories.
- Glow by chemical reaction, such as glow stick. This type of glow material has two chemical substances in the stick. When user bends the stick, its glass membrane will be broken and these chemical substances are mixed together. The mixture creates UV light emission and the UV light reflects phosphorescent material inside the stick. So that, it can glow as last long for few hours. After the chemical reaction is finished, there is no more UV light emission and its glow performance will be permanently gone. This type of glow material is one-time used material.
- Glow by material nature. This type of glow material absorbs light energy from other sources and then it will release the energy in form of light emission. So that, the glow material can glow in the dark environment as last long as its stored energy. After the light emission is over, there is no energy left in this state but the glow material can be re-used by putting it to absorb light energy once again. The glowing property of this type of material can be last long for 10 years or over.
Currently, glow material is made from Strontium Aluminate which enables good glowing performance and it is good for using in safety purpose since it has high glowing performance and long glowing time. There is also Zinc Sulfide group of material which can glow in the dark but this group of material has much shorter glowing time than Strontium Aluminate. The price is much cheaper at cost of glowing performance compare with Strontium Aluminate.
Besides, glowing performance is still different by manufacturer and its production process. Although the main material is Strontium Aluminate, the performance of glow material depends on pre and post process of manufacturing. Also, shape and size of glow pigment and mixing ratio of glow pigment in final product are related to its glowing performance. Hence, glowing product should be tested under the condition which conforms reliable standards in order to ensure that the glowing product has sufficient light as enough long lasting time for using under emergency case.
Glowing time depends on testing standard and measurement method. Some glow product in the market may note number of glowing time in hour unit but the actual glowing time is still different even the same number of hours is claimed by each seller since the actual glowing time is strongly related to light absorbing condition and using environment. User should be careful and verify that the noted number of hour is conformed with reliable standard or not. There are many reliable standards of glowing performance such as DIN 67510 or ISO 17398 (recommend to meet class C of the standard or above), JIS Z 9107 (class JB or above).
What is glow material?
Glow-in-the-dark material or photoluminescent material has its glowing property by absorbing light energy and release that energy in form of light wave in the dark environment without any Electrical power required. Hence, the glow material has great benefits in term of following.
- Using glow material does not require Electrical power. So that, it helps reducing carbon dioxide emission and good for environment.
- Since it can glow without Electrical power, photoluminescent (glow-in-the-dark) product is easy to install. No Electrical system construction.
- No cost during usage. There is cost at initial installation only.
- No timely maintenance cost such as light bulb or battery changing cost.
How is it different between glow and reflective property?
Glow |
The material absorbs light energy and then release that energy in form of light wave. The material with glow property can glow-in-the-dark by itself after enough light absorption. The glowing light intensity is decayed by time.  |
Neon glow |
The material with this property response to excitation light source to be visible as glowing in the dark (external light source is necessary). Thus, the material will not glow without external light source (glow only in excitation condition). |
Reflective |
The material with reflective property reflects any incident light to be visible in the dark (external light source is necessary). This type of material does not glow. |
How long is glow material lifetime?
Glow material from LumiGLOW® is manufactured by Strontium Aluminate which is semi-permanent material. It is non destructive material and resistance to UV light. There is no significant degradation even tested under condition of Sunshine Weather Meter for 2,000 hours (equivalent to 10 years).
What kind of light that glow material can absorb?
Glow material from LumiGLOW® is Strontium Aluminate which has property of light absorption for wavelength from 200nm to 480nm. This range of light wavelength covers from UV ray, LED light bulb, fluorescent lamp, and even tungsten light bulb. Since it is good to apply with many kinds of light, the glow material from LumiGLOW® can be used in various types of application.
How long does it glow?
Visibility of light source depends on luminance level of the light source which is measured in unit of milli-candela per square meter (mcd/m2). We performed blind visibility test in order to investigate minimum level of luminance level that can be seen by human as following table (sample group of 10 persons).
Luminance level (mcd/m2) |
Visibility condition under dark environment |
Noticable |
Unable to spot light source |
200 or above |
Text readable |
- |
- |
5 or above |
Text noticable |
10 persons |
0 person |
less than 3 |
Glow spot is visible. |
10 persons |
0 person |
less than 2 |
Able to notice glow spot |
10 persons |
0 person |
less than 1 |
Almost impossible to notice glow spot |
3 persons |
7 persons |
0.3 |
Minimum luminace level of physical glow material |
- |
- |
From the above table, we draw visible line for LumiGLOW® product at luminance level of 3 mcd/m2 or above, according to measurement method in global standard such as DIN 67510, JIS Z 9107, ISO 17398.
LumiGLOW® product has 3 levels of glowing performance; Standard glow, High glow and Super glow. Based on our experiment in laboratory, number of visible hours is listed as follows.
- Standard glow: Not less than 8 hours in completely dark environment after proper excitation
- High glow and Super glow: Not less than 12 hours in completely dark environment after proper excitation
How to install glow products?
Glow product/material must absorb light before putting in the dark environment to make it glow by itself. Thus, it is suitable for using in any area that is required to be spotted in the dark environment. Our glow product can be installed easily.- Glow pigment - Mix with plastic or resin for forming or mix with paint for surface painting
- Glow tape & sticker - Peel of back liner and adhere easily
- Glow signage - Signage with custom symbol which is visible in the dark
- Glow curb stud - Ultimate glow spot which can be easily installed by screw and adhesive
LumiGLOW® product has weatherability test report to ensure product endurance and many more tests.
LumiGLOW® passed various global standards; for example
- Water resistance test: Submerge a piece of LumiGLOW® sheet for 1 month. It is found that the glowing performance has no significant change.
- Weatherability Test: Do cycle test according to JIS A 1415 standard by spray water for 18 minutes and then shine light with intensity of 180W/m2 by Xenon arc lamp for 102 minutes under ambient temperature of 63 Celcius centigrades and 50% humidity. There is no significant change in glowing performance after repeat this cycle for 1,000 hours (equivalent 5 years of outdoor usage).
- Adhesive Test: Perform test by following methodology in JIS Z 0237 standard for both indoor and outdoor conditions.
- Flamability Test: Perform test by following methodology in ASTM E 162-95 standard.
- Smoke Intensity Test: Perform test by following methodology in ASTM E 662 standard.
- Toxic Gas Generation Test: Perform toxic gas generation by following methodology in SMP-800C standard
- Luminance Test: Perform test by following methodology in various global standards; JIS Z 9107, DIN 67510, ISO 17398
- Luminance Test (Outdoor): Perform test by following methodology in JIS Z 9098 standard and ISO 22578 standard
- Harzardous substances detection: Perform harzardous substances according to RoHS 2.0 standard which is widely applied in US, Europe, and worldwide in order to ensure that glow materials and products from LumiGLOW® and Nexit® are highly safe for human, animal-being and environment (Green product).
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