Chinese scientists make light emitting paper
Scientists in China have reported what they claim is the first light-emitting, transparent and flexible paper made out of environmentally friendly materials.
In the journal ACS Applied Materials, Yu-Zhong Wang, Fei Song and colleagues from Sichuan University describe using a simple suction filtration method to develop a thin, clear nanocellulose paper made out of wood flour and infused with quantum dots made out of zinc and selenium. The paper glowed at room temperature and could be rolled and unrolled without cracking.
The work was part of an exploration of environmentally friendly light-emitting devices with extremely low weight. According to the team, the ZnSe quantum dots could be be dispersed uniformly in the nanocellulose, and the resultant composite paper showed a low coefficient of thermal expansion suggesting good dimensional stability.
The authors acknowledge funding from the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
'Let It Shine: A Transparent and Photoluminescent Foldable Nanocellulose/Quantum Dot Paper' by Juan Xue, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2015, 7 (19)
