(Nanowerk News) Researchers from KU Leuven (Belgium), the University of Strasbourg, and CNRS have discovered a new phosphor that could make next-generation fluorescent and LED lighting even cheaper and more efficient. The team used highly luminescent clusters of silver atoms and the porous framework of minerals known as zeolites (Nature Materials, “Tuning the energetics and tailoring the optical properties of silver clusters confined in zeolites”).Silver clusters consist of just a few silver atoms and have remarkable optical properties. However, current applications are limited, because the clusters tend to aggregate into larger particles, thus losing the interesting optical properties.
Read more: Next-generation fluorescent and LED lighting thanks to new phosphor?