The Bologna Stone: history's first persistent luminescent material
Författare
Summary, in English
In 1603, the Italian shoemaker Vincenzo Cascariolo found that a stone (baryte) from the outskirts of Bologna emitted light in the dark without any external excitation source. However, the calcination of the baryte was needed prior to this observation. The stone later named as the Bologna Stone was among the first luminescent materials and the first documented material to show persistent luminescence. The mechanism behind the persistent emission in this material has remained a mystery ever since. In this work, the Bologna Stone (BaS) was prepared from the natural baryte (Bologna, Italy) used by Cascariolo. Its properties, e. g. impurities (dopants) and their valences, luminescence, persistent luminescence and trap structure, were compared to those of the pure BaS materials doped with different (transition) metals (Cu, Ag, Pb) known to yield strong luminescence. The work was carried out by using different methods (XANES, TL, VUV-UV-vis luminescence, TGA-DTA, XPD). A plausible mechanism for the persistent luminescence from the Bologna Stone with Cu+ as the emitting species was constructed based on the results obtained. The puzzle of the Bologna Stone can thus be considered as resolved after some 400 years of studies.
Avdelning/ar
Publiceringsår
2012
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
885-890
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
European Journal of Mineralogy
Volym
24
Issue
5
Länkar
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Copernicus GmbH
Ämne
- Natural Sciences
- Physical Sciences
Nyckelord
- Persistent luminescence
- Bologna Stone
- baryte
- copper
- barium sulphide
- XANES
- thermoluminescence
- thermogravimetry
- differential thermal
- analysis
- X-ray powder diffraction
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1617-4011