The first light bulb was invented over 100 years ago and inventors and scientists from all over the world have been trying to improve its efficiency and effectiveness ever since.
The U has joined the trend in making improvements to the lightbulb, specifically in LED lighting.
U researchers have experimented with new platinum-rich, plastic-like polymers, tuning them in such a way that trains them to emit different colors, which could be a huge step towards creating the only truly white LED lightbulb.
“LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, are found in many of today’s cell phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S4, televisions, and hand-held gaming systems, such as Playstation Vita. To produce the color white, these systems utilize mixtures of red, green and blue — some mix blue and yellow — to create white light,” said Dali Sun, a post doctorate student.
Zeev Vardeny, professor of physics and astronomy, said that this development could mean more efficient lights in homes and personal electronic devices, but the polymers could be used to create better solar panels and computer memory.
LED lights are more efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs.
“The standard light bulb hasn’t changed based on the idea that if you get something hot enough it forms visible light. [The problem is] it also gets hot and doesn’t produce much light [considering] the amount of energy put into it,” said Carleton Detar, head of the department of physics and astronomy.
Standard light bulbs currently account for 40 percent of all electricity consumption, said Vardeny.
“LEDs save money [in energy costs] and can be safely thrown away in the trash, unlike their predecessors, which helps the environment,” he said.
Vardeny predicts a truly white LED could be as close as two years away. While others in the science department feel this may be a bit optimistic, the end result is still something that could mean big things.
Still, the costs of mass production will probably be an issue, Vardeny said.
The project is receiving support from the Department of Energy, theNational Science Foundation’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Center Program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and China’s Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities. The U conducted the study with the help of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.