Historical Evolution of Chemiluminescence

It has been known for centuries that many compounds emit visible radiation when they are exposed to sunlight. Luminescence phenomena, such as the aurora borealis, phosphorescence of the sea, luminous animals and insects, phosphorescent wood, etc., have fascinated man since antiquity, being reflected in the early scientific literature. Aristotle (384-322 b.c.) appears to be one of the first philosophers to recognize cold light in dead fish, fungi, and the luminous secretion of the cuttlefish [1], 

These luminescence phenomena have been known since ancient times according to the legend, about 1000 b.c., a Chinese emperor possessed a magic paint on which the image of an ox appeared at sunset. The chemical composition of the paint used was not known. This is the first known case of a man-made substance capable of storing daylight for later recovery [2]. 

The first example of luminescence emission from solids, of which written documents exist, date from the Italian Renaissance, originating from the accidental discovery around the year 1600 (1602 or 1603) by a Bolonian shoemaker and alchemist, called Vincencio Casciarolo or Casciarolus. He melted heavy bricks, close to his house, hoping to extract precious metals from them. 

These bricks, after calcination with carbon and exposure to daylight, emitted a reddish glittering in the dark. These Bolonian stones, also named moonstones, particularly those from the Monte Paterno, remain among the most famous ones and were the subject of scientific interest during the next two centuries they were termed phosphor (Greek light bearer ). They are considered the first inorganic artificial phosphors [2-4]. The first natural phosphor was dia-mant, whose luminescence was cited by Cellini in 1568 [5]. 

The delayed light emission as observed from the Bolonian stone is now classified as phosphorescence. We know now that these stones contain barium sulfate with traces of bismuth and manganese, and that the corresponding reducing process concerns the transformation of sulfate into sulfur. It is now well known that alkaline earth metal sulfates emit phosphorescence that strongly increases when traces of heavy metals are present. The so-called inorganic multi-component compounds phosphor and crystallophosphor are in fact polycrystalline substances containing traces of some ionic activators of luminescence. 

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