Activating Zinc Sulfide for Glowing

wil3

Hello. I am trying to activate crystals of Zinc Sulfide in order to get the crystal to glow in the dark. I do not need a long-term or powerful glow, I am merely investigating whether it is possible.

How can I prepare Zinc Sulfide crystals that have copper impurities as part of the crystal structure? See the Wikipedia article below for a description of why this is necessary for a glow. I have made Zinc sulfide through the combustion method, but I was considering instead trying the precipitation method. If I were to add Cu ions to the solution before precipitation, would this allow me to create the activated Zinc Sulfide Crystals?

This is an area of chemistry I know nothing about, so I really do appreciate any advice. Thanks!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_sulfide

maxmc1027

I dont know much about the subject, but you could try an electrolysis using a copper anode. That would put some of the ions necessary into the solution. (Theoretically anyway) Good luck with it! (are you detecting alphas?? :P )