Size Matters! (particle size, that is)
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TL;DR: Larger glow particle sizes glow brighter and for longer
...but why? And what does that mean for our Abyss Walker glow powder?
It's all to do with surface defects and non-radiative quenching.
In their research titled 'Size-Dependent Optical Properties of Nanoscale and Bulk Long Persistent Phosphor SrAl2O4:Eu2+, Dy3+', the authors explain that:
- Smaller particles have vastly higher surface-to-volume ratio, which means a much larger fraction of Eu²⁺ centers sit within a few lattice constants of the surface.
- Surface atoms have dangling bonds, missing coordinating oxygens, and adsorbed species — water, hydroxyls, carbonate from atmospheric CO₂. These groups have vibrational modes (O–H stretches around 3400 cm⁻¹, for example) with phonon energies high enough that excited Eu²⁺ near the surface relaxes non-radiatively by dumping energy into those vibrations rather than emitting a photon.
- "The smaller nanoparticles lead to the more serious surface adsorption and surface defects, which lead to nonradiative relaxation and fluorescence quenching."
But we also know from our users that the larger particle sizes (85 microns and larger) perform better:
...and for this reason, we at Abyss Walker are discontinuing our smaller particle size glow powder in order to provide the best quality 85-150 micron powder that we're convinced will shine brightest and longest.
