Light

00:00:03: Substance, stories about the

00:00:05: stuff that shapes our world.

00:00:08: I had the opportunity one summer to volunteer at a local music festival so for free ticket you do some work in the festival and i was put on the environment team which is basically go around pick up garbage all day And I picked hundreds of glow sticks in one shift.

00:00:26: Some were breaking.

00:00:28: they're over-the place.

00:00:30: I just wanted to figure it out when i got home, what was in the glow sticks because they're so bright.

00:00:37: So how does this work?

00:00:56: Substance!

00:01:13: We'll hear from Richard Frantz, who will tell us about his work on making display technologies more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

00:01:23: And he also talks about why it can be challenging to invent something that's entirely new!

00:01:30: But our first guest is Paige Whitehead.

00:01:33: Paige has founded a startup called LuxBio where she & her team are using biology to generate light without electricity.

00:01:44: Paige was born and raised on Vancouver Island just off the west coast of Canada.

00:01:49: It's a place full of beautiful, awe-inspiring nature A place where you can still wander through rainforests And be humbled by enormous trees that are hundreds years old.

00:02:02: Maybe it is because this beautiful place she grew up in But from an early age Paige has been drawn to conservation efforts.

00:02:11: I have always been someone who moved by sustainability and taking care of our planet.

00:02:18: And I think that's how it showed up for me quite early, you know?

00:02:21: We get the local newspaper...and i read an article about this.

00:02:25: local marmot was potentially going to go extinct!

00:02:28: They were so cute..I don't remember much anymore but I remember just how it felt-the fear and thinking like I need do something about this

00:02:37: In the early two thousands Vancouver Island Marmots where on a brink extinction Marmots are a large ground squirrel.

00:02:46: At the time, only thirty-two adult Vancouver Island marmots were left in the wild.

00:02:52: The page wanted to do something so her parents helped her brainstorm ideas on how to raise funds So she can help them.

00:03:00: they ended up baking cookies lots of cookies and sold them wherever They possibly could And they donated all the proceeds of their little baking side hustle to The Marmot Recovery Foundation.

00:03:14: The people there were impressed by Paige's work, and they invited her go visit a secret marmot recovery center.

00:03:22: We had to go in blacked out van because we didn't want anyone know where it was.

00:03:26: It was such an empowering experience for young child To see that They can make difference.

00:03:33: Just getting started on something Can have huge results.

00:03:37: Her effort to save the Vancouver Island.

00:03:39: Marmot landed her a feature article in A Science Magazine for Children, and that in turn put her on the radar of the organizers at The UN Children's Conference On The Environment.

00:03:52: That conference is held in different places every year but this year it came to Victoria British Columbia which isn't far from Page's hometown.

00:04:02: she was invited

00:04:06: moment of my childhood because I got to meet other people who were like me.

00:04:10: You know, a group in very small town and this conference had children from all over the world that was so inspiring building wells for their communities, building schools taking recycling plastic and turning it into fibers or clothing.

00:04:30: And it was beyond anything I'd ever experienced before.

00:04:33: and i think, I carried that through with me for the rest of my life.

00:04:36: from a very early age page learned That your actions can have A real impact?

00:04:43: That mindset would prove to become Very important later in her life.

00:04:48: Years Later when she Was a teenager She had another very influential chance encounter.

00:04:54: one night at a beach Not shaped which path she Would eventually choose For Her career.

00:05:00: We and some friends were camping on a beach in the summer.

00:05:03: It was one of those really special summer evenings where it would still be warm out, so... And there's this beautiful full moon when you're like we have to go for a swim!

00:05:14: You know?

00:05:14: When do I get a chance again?

00:05:16: because even Canada is usually pretty cold at night and we ran into water all of sudden just lit up around us.

00:05:29: It was the first time I'd ever seen bioluminescence.

00:05:33: And when you're swimming in really healthy, bio-luminescents like every move your whole body is outlined and this kind of sparkly light... ...and it was so beautiful!

00:05:47: Of course i wanted to learn as much about what's happening because its just such a otherworldly experience.

00:05:56: At the age of fourteen, Paige and her friends had no idea what was going on.

00:06:02: She didn't know that she was seeing bioluminescent algae that live in those ocean waters... ...she had NO IDEA.

00:06:09: THAT HER SWIM STROKE DISTURBED THOSE ALGIE AND THAT THE LIGHT THEY EMIT IS PART OF HOW THEY DEFEND THEMSELVES.

00:06:16: AT THE TIME SHE WAS SIMPLY STUNNED TO BE SWIMMING IN THIS SEA OF LIGHT.

00:06:21: It definitely was a part of why I chose to go into microbiology in university.

00:06:27: I just started to find these like little creatures so fascinating and the fact that they did so much invisibly was really

00:06:36: intriguing.".

00:06:37: Besides

00:06:37: microbiology, Paige also studying environmental science but she hadn't quite figured out what field she wanted to work in.

00:06:46: She found her calling an unexpected place when she volunteered at a local music festival.

00:06:52: I had the opportunity one summer to volunteer at a local music festival.

00:06:56: So for free ticket, you do some work in the festival and i was put on The Environment Team which is basically go around pick up garbage all day.

00:07:04: these events And...I picked hundreds of glow sticks in one

00:07:08: shift.

00:07:10: Some were breaking.

00:07:12: They're over-the place..and really wondered what's inside them.

00:07:17: The festival was hosted on a family farm, so I was quite concerned if I missed something.

00:07:23: You know that an animal might eat it?

00:07:26: Just wanted to figure out when i got home what was in the glow sticks because they're so bright!

00:07:32: So how does this work?

00:07:33: Paige is probably not alone

00:07:35: with that

00:07:36: question.

00:07:37: While most of us have seen or used glowsticks before Not many people now and why they light up I asked Paige to give me a quick overview of the inner workings.

00:08:14: Chemicals are able to mix, and that is how light is produced.

00:08:17: The reaction is called chemiluminescence.

00:08:20: In contrast to electric light which produces huge amounts of heat as a byproduct Chemilumnescence produces almost no heat at all.

00:08:30: This unique feature makes this sort-of glow tech really valuable tool.

00:08:35: Initially glow sticks like these weren't for partying.

00:08:39: They were invented by the military in the nineteen seventies as a way of producing light while avoiding thermal detection.

00:08:46: But during the process of chemiluminescence, problematic chemicals are formed inside the glow sticks and those chemical byproducts aren't supposed to ever leave that thick plastic shell but unfortunately they do.

00:09:03: for example when a glow stick is left outside and subjected to prolonged exposure from UV radiation That makes the plastic brittle.

00:09:12: And when the plastic fails, the chemicals leach into the environment.

00:09:18: Paige recognized this problem and decided to act on it by setting out to make environmentally friendly glow sticks.

00:09:27: Her startup's name?

00:09:28: LuxBio.

00:09:31: But can you actually build a whole company around such small products?

00:09:36: Well turns-out...you definitely can!

00:09:39: Because as she learned, it turns out glow sticks have way more applications than most people know.

00:09:45: I think when you think of a glow stick mostly like kids birthday party or Halloween some type of party environment You're not very serious.

00:09:56: maybe something that you buy at the dollar store.

00:09:59: What i didn't know is glow sticks today are used for so many things from commercial fishing lures to you know, spark-free emergency lighting for underwater diving and mining.

00:10:12: It's used for transportation.

00:10:15: Emergency lighting again anywhere where there is a risk of gas leak or an explosion... You don't want to rely on electric lighting!

00:10:23: boxes of glow sticks like at every exit point, you know in a mine or anywhere where it's very dangerous.

00:10:29: Same with emergency kits after earthquakes one of the only recommended forms of light to use again to reduce the risk of an explosion.

00:10:38: they're actually part of astronaut suit kits as

00:10:42: well.".

00:10:43: Page wanted to reinvent The Glow Stick and make it environmentally friendly and sustainable.

00:10:49: her goal at LuxBio was clear get rid of all the problematic chemicals that traditional glow sticks rely on, and use bioluminescence.

00:10:59: Like the light those ocean algae create instead of chemiluminescent like traditional

00:11:04: glowsticks.".

00:11:06: And one of the first obstacles she had to overcome was getting the bioluminacent reaction to occur outside a living cell.

00:11:14: Inside a cell there are very specific conditions such as pH or hydration.

00:11:19: There's a lot going on and that is the environment that bioluminescence originally evolved to be really happy in.

00:11:27: And when we take it outside of this cell, all of sudden its' on his own!

00:11:31: We've worked hard to understand it so make sure you can emulate conditions where your are most happy... ...and then also work to make the enzyme itself more amenable for industrial applications.

00:11:46: Luckily, Page didn't have to start from scratch.

00:11:49: Bioluminescent enzymes were already being used all over the world for example For detecting how clean a surface is in a hospital.

00:11:58: But in those settings The light producing enzymes we're only needed In tiny quantities and the light that they emitted but wasn't even visible To the naked eye.

00:12:07: it can only be detected by special sensors And they only produced extremely short flashes of light, whereas glow sticks need to shine brightly for hours.

00:12:19: So there's a lot of work for the team at LuxBio to improve on and... They did it!

00:12:25: They tweaked original light producing enzyme that produces a glow that lasts more than forty-eight hours.

00:12:32: The next step was scaling up production process

00:12:36: What we do.

00:12:36: once you have an enzyme working really well and stable And it's able to have a high turnover of the reaction and produce light for hours.

00:12:46: Then we need to make like millions, and millions of copies of it.

00:12:49: That is what ends up in our final protein powder.

00:12:52: So To do that We work with very standard type of fermentation process where... ...we have this bacteria that we engineered to produce the enzyme In really high amounts.

00:13:08: Thanks to the field of industrial biotechnology, there's very standard ways to do this.

00:13:14: So if you've ever been to a brewery and see these huge vats that make beer or spirits is almost exactly same concept.

00:13:23: we have big vats... We feed them, grow them at the end instead being left with a beer or the end product.

00:13:36: This protein powder is now at the heart of LuxBio's Glowstick.

00:13:41: When you bend the glow stick, The vial with the powder breaks and releases the enzyme into water.

00:13:48: Then the bioluminescent reaction starts.

00:13:52: So inside was now environmentally friendly.

00:13:56: But Paige didn't want to stop there.

00:13:58: She wanted whole product to be sustainable.

00:14:01: that was part of our focus.

00:14:02: is whatever we put into these glow sticks, it needs to be like food for the environment.

00:14:07: So as they biodegrade you know there'll be left in-in the environment.

00:14:11: um let's have it actually be beneficial just like a leaf would be...like any other kind of organic detritus might be so that it works within the natural cycles of life and death on the planet.

00:14:25: The next step was to replace the outer plastic shell with a sustainable material.

00:14:30: Instead of traditional petrochemical-based plastic, they're now using a plant based certified ocean biodegradable plastic alternative.

00:14:44: Right Now LuxBio is working on scaling up their production process.

00:14:48: They want to produce millions and millions of their glow sticks And get them out into the world.

00:14:55: Their first partner Is the commercial fishing industry in Australia Which had been looking for products just like The one she was building.

00:15:03: During her research for possible applications, she stumbled upon a rather obscure report written by the Australian government.

00:15:23: They had tested LEDs.

00:15:34: They tested photo luminescence, they've done so much work and said that there was absolutely nothing currently available to solve the

00:15:43: issue.".

00:15:44: And then in our dream world we would need something biodegradable on the ocean completely non-toxic or maybe something could be powered with bioluminescence one day.

00:15:56: but don't know!

00:15:58: Reading this, I got in touch and at first they thought that was pulling their leg.

00:16:03: They didn't believe me!

00:16:05: But it's just so perfect.

00:16:08: now there are one of our biggest champions.

00:16:11: We have an amazing community already aware about the problem we're trying to solve.

00:16:18: That is a dream.

00:16:24: Paige talked to one single company in Australia, who told her they use eight million glow sticks every year for their fishing operations.

00:16:33: And we've gotten to the point where there like yes We would buy this.

00:16:37: This is what you need.

00:16:38: and my of our first big orders will be four You know Like three million units For one of the biggest distributors which are that phishing industry down?

00:16:45: There.

00:16:46: so it's really kind of taking on a life of its own

00:16:48: pages.

00:16:49: invention has already come A long way and he starting to gain traction.

00:16:55: LuxBio was selected for NATO's Diana program, For new technologies that might have defense or security applications.

00:17:03: The Canadian Coast Guard is doing a trial session with her glow sticks during search and rescue operations.

00:17:10: Somebody from NASA reached out.

00:17:12: even A huge oil & gas company contacted Her because they are looking at reducing plastics throughout their supply chain.

00:17:20: And this Is all Because she swam in bioluminescent bacteria.

00:17:25: She saw a glow stick pollution problem at the festival, and then she put two-and-two together... And set out to reinvent The Glow

00:17:34: Stick.".

00:17:37: That was Paige Whitehead's inspiring story about producing light without electricity.

00:17:44: My next guest is Richard Frantz.

00:17:47: He's a chemist and head of R&D for the display business unit of BASF.

00:17:52: As a chemist, I work today in my core expertise so developing molecules to help solving problems of the daily life for everyone consumer.

00:18:02: And more particularly today for display area finding solutions to improve efficiency and reduce energy consumption which is our topic.

00:18:13: Displays are ubiquitous.

00:18:15: they're everywhere.

00:18:17: if you own TV or laptop tablet cell phone even watches, they all come with a display of some kind and these displays are getting better all the time.

00:18:29: I mean think not even one hundred years ago TVs were black-and-white.

00:18:32: only now displays can show ALL THE COLORS OF THE RAINBOW sharper & more vivid than we ever thought possible!

00:18:42: To understand this scientific progress that got us from then to NOW We first need to take a step back into what light is and why it comes in different colors.

00:18:54: Now, you might have heard that light isn't neither a wave nor particle but somehow shows properties of both those things.

00:19:02: Well here's Richard Frantz with an explanation

00:19:10: Of course, the shorter being on blue and longer to red.

00:19:14: And at the end you can basically differentiate all of them into different colors... ...and that's why also our eyes are able to detect because they're able to really detect those waves.

00:19:25: Ok let's recap Our eyes detect the shortest waves as blue Longer ones as green.

00:19:31: The longest is Red.

00:19:34: This triad of red-green in blue or RGB is the basis of every modern LCD display.

00:19:43: You don't need any more colors because you can mix different wavelengths together to make our brains see any color in a rainbow!

00:19:52: We'll get back into that, but what exactly IS A BETTER DISPLAY?

00:19:58: In his daily work… That's what Richard is striving.

00:20:02: the image that we observe is, let's say as close to reality.

00:20:11: I mean with high contrast and eye brightness... ...with high color rendering in order more or less interact faster.

00:20:18: So we want to develop things better but not to sacrifice any point like environmental like electric consumption so on.

00:20:26: Today this one of our motors market being making the display better but is possible lighter, thinner and more efficient.

00:20:39: Modern LCD displays consist of different layers.

00:20:43: According to Richard it can be up to a hundred layers in single display But we are going focus on just few of them because that's enough to understand how they work.

00:20:54: Now the deepest layer is backlight system which generates light Basically, a big light bulb that lights up the entire screen with one big bluish-white light.

00:21:05: On top of it sits a color filter which absorbs certain wavelengths and lets other ones pass through.

00:21:14: If say blue & green light are absorbed... ...that pixel appears red!

00:21:18: And if red & blue are absorbed.... That pixel appears

00:21:22: green!!

00:21:24: The problem these light filters is they're really wasteful.

00:21:28: Since they absorb certain wavelengths of light, the energy in these wavelengths is just lost.

00:21:34: That's where scientists saw room for improvement

00:21:37: In order to really improve and avoid losing too much from this system.

00:21:42: I think that efforts were made in direction of color conversion layer And Color Conversion Layer was one big step towards invention of two dots

00:21:55: Instead of using a color filter that absorbs certain wavelengths, scientists came up with a color conversion layer.

00:22:03: It consists so-called quantum dots or Q dots.

00:22:08: So those are let's say nanoparticles extremely small not visible to the naked eye Of course and during the process of fabrication can define the size basically off of the particle itself.

00:22:20: The Nobel Foundation came up with a great analogy regarding the size of these things.

00:22:26: If you compare the size to a cue dot, then that's the same relationship as if you were compared the size above football to the size on earth!

00:22:36: They are stunningly small.

00:22:39: Cue dots are fluorescent which means light shines upon them.

00:22:42: they get excited and emit light from certain wavelengths out.

00:22:47: The cool thing about Q-Dots is that their size determines which color of light they will emit.

00:22:59: And up to, I think a few tenths of nanometer.

00:23:08: I think forty-fifty nanometers for the largest one and basically turning it into red direction So basically covering the entire spectra from let's say close to UV ultraviolet To the red and infrared.

00:23:20: so what's the big deal?

00:23:22: Why is color conversion better than a color filter?

00:23:26: well because a color Filter that wastes all the wavelengths of white light you don't want see.

00:23:33: With color conversion on the other hand it converts all The energy of the background light to the color that you want and they're not wasting anything.

00:23:42: But as with most things in life Q dots came with a big drawback Because there typically made from heavy metals.

00:23:50: today we can see two problems out of the use of easy metal.

00:23:55: is Availability by nature of the easy metal.

00:23:58: I think their resources are decreasing worldwide.

00:24:02: I think it was one of the cases related to solar cells in the past that extracting a lot of those heavy metals, to produce solar panels.

00:24:12: It's nice we can generate now more electricity using sun but we are getting rid off all let say natural amounts and cadmium for quantum dot is part of it.

00:24:24: by using cadmiums We're using some other natural resources.

00:24:29: Are you wondering why I spent the last ten minutes getting you excited about Q-Dots only to end with bad news?

00:24:36: Well, don't worry.

00:24:37: The story doesn't end there.

00:24:40: Richard Frantz and his team at BASF have developed a new color conversion layer that does not rely on heavy metals but instead uses organic molecules.

00:24:50: They're called Q-dyes.

00:24:52: We are trying to replace Q dots today by Q dyes because Q dots are made of easy metal And as a metal can be problematic because they are not, let's say recyclable and can bioaccumulate.

00:25:06: Where our solution?

00:25:08: Our Q-dyes purely organic I would say environmentally friendly and recyclables Not only by human but also by nature.

00:25:18: His team came up with Q-Dyes about five years ago But it didn't start with success in celebration.

00:25:24: When i look back on the five years It was really challenging time because we were sure that we find a good solution.

00:25:32: I mean, not perfect if it would compare to quantum dots but the solution will bring some benefit But they are challenging in order for us to convince our market to adopt our solutions.

00:25:45: You can still widely see quantum dots and we're really pushing and fighting for them.

00:25:50: Part of this push-and-fighting was making the QDIs better.

00:25:56: His customers brushed him off and told them to come back once their new Q-Dots performed as well.

00:26:03: So he and his team got to work, they redesigned the organic molecules to improve performance make brighter and their emitted colors more uniform.

00:26:14: And then?

00:26:15: They went back.

00:26:15: The most resilient guys are in Taiwan.

00:26:17: I mean, we are pretty happy of these people.

00:26:20: Of course among the chemists working in different sites or for DSF.

00:26:24: but T-people and Taiwan those who take bags go visit customers to try to convince them.

00:26:29: please test this.

00:26:30: We believe it's a good solution.

00:26:32: so they're very active.

00:26:35: don't basically are afraid of the effort nor knocking second time at door.

00:26:40: The customer will tell then hey look!

00:26:42: We made some progress compared last week or two months.

00:26:44: Please test again and with always the same message, I mean believing that we will make it.

00:26:50: And uh... We'll convert in a product.

00:26:53: so again very proud of our team.

00:26:55: In the end their efforts paid off!

00:26:57: I'm happy to say that we have recently got qualification from customer for one of the products made before you die.

00:27:05: This will be launched soon on market as said not first year.

00:27:09: supplier don't make television but let's see the TV will enter the market with technology.

00:27:15: So the mass production has already started, which we are quite happy.

00:27:18: Did we celebrate?

00:27:19: I think we will!

00:27:20: We did not yet because as said freshly news that... ...we're now pretty proud to say our material is going in qualification and mass production on the market.

00:27:30: And i think we'll take really opportunity with team To make a celebration of this great achievement Because it was long way for us to go with very cycle or frustration.

00:27:42: So proud to make something in the lab, but not too serious.

00:27:45: I think that's if i can summarize it last year.

00:27:48: But we are very proud today and will celebrate.

00:27:50: after years of hard work.

00:27:52: The Q-Dies were ready To be integrated into state-of-the art electronics.

00:27:57: so next time you buy Something with a screen maybe It'll have q die technology in it A new more sustainable way to use quantum physics to Make color.

00:28:11: So that's it for our episode about light and color today.

00:28:15: I hope you enjoyed it, found it... well illuminating!

00:28:20: And make sure to come back next time on All About Sound.

00:28:26: This has been Substance Stories about the Stuff That Shapes Our World.

00:28:32: Substance is a podcast by BASF produced by Territory Agency in collaboration with Wake Word & me Joe Hansen Research and scripting by Daniel Sedbrook, Claudia Doyle, Hardy Röder & Joe Hansen.