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How to Make a glow stick reaction with real chemicals

Mar 5, 2009 10:44 PM

Laboratory scene with glowing liquid in a bottle and labeled materials.

Watch this science video tutorial from Nurd Rage on how to make a glow stick reaction with real chemicals.

The glowstick reaction is made using a diphenyl oxalate derivative known as bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)oxalate or TCPO. Additional ingredients include ethyl acetate as a solvent, sodium acetate as a base, 9,10-bis (phenylethynyl) anthracene to give it the green color, and hydrogen peroxide to react with the TCPO and create light.

The exact proportions are:

15mL of ethyl acetate

3mg of 9,10-bis (phenyethynyl) anthracene

1g of sodium acetate

800mg of TCPO

3mL of hydrogen peroxide added last to initiate the reaction.

The exact same process is used in glow sticks. This is NOT mountain dew. Mountain dew cannot glow like this, it does not have the crucial TCPO chemical or any chemical like that.

The reaction will glow in the dark for several minutes if you use ethyl acetate as the solvent. It will glow for several hours if you use diethyl phthalate as the solvent.

Brought to you by one of WonderHowTo's favorite scientists NurdRage.

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