Why uranium glass glows green if it's under UV light?

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
Sign up Log in
5 replies · 5K views
ORF
Messages
169
Reaction score
19
Hello

Why the uranium glass glows green if it's under UV light?

The most accurate thing I have found it's a brief history of uranium glass: somewhere it's said the more uranium oxide you put in the glass, the more intense will be the green light when exposed to UV light.

Thank you for your time.

Greetings.
 

Discussion

Physics news on Phys.org
This is called "fluorescence" and is due to the Uranyl cation UO#_2^+##. Maybe best known is the fluorescence of fluorescein, which is contained e.g. in bath soaps.
 
Hello

Thank you for your answers.

My mistake, I will reformulate the question (for a deeper answer) which transitions (of which components) converts UV into green light in the uranium glass?

Thank you for your time.

Greetings.
 
Fluorescence is usually observed for the first excited singlet to ground state transition. May be a charge transfer transition.
Edit: Here is an article which contains information on the relevant electronic structures:
http://doc.sciencenet.cn/upload/file/20113421491684.pdf
The optical spectra are in deed due to electronic transfer of electrons located in p-orbitals on Oxygen to non-bonding f-orbitals on Uranium.
 
Last edited:
Thank you very much! :D

Greetings!