Materials That Glow in the Dark

Glow-in-the-dark toys, paper and candles are popular.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images

Glow-in-the-dark materials are generally a reaction from zinc sulfide, copper and phosphors. Once these chemicals are mixed in together, they release a special light that can illuminate anything in their path like toys, candles or paper-based materials. Nature has also produced living organisms that glow in the dark.

Wax

Standard candles are made of wax, a material that naturally illuminates even when not lit. Specifically, glow-in-the-dark candles emit a stronger glow as their materials are made from a zinc sulfide-and-phosphors-based gel and wax, which is made from sugar, lemon juice and water. When light energizes the phosphors in the gel, it will stimulate its own electrons. Electrons that lose energy then release a glowing light of their own.

Paper, poster boards and stickers that are specially formulated to illuminate a glow is generally made from a material called zinc sulfide, a material that is used in glow powder. Zinc sulfide is composed of white to yellow powdered crystals. When small amounts of copper are added, the material makes for a phosphorescent pigment or "glowing" light. According to Steve Spangler Science, this type of luminescence occurs when the light radiation hits the copper and sulfide, which creates an automatic glow in dark spaces.

Certain plants have a glow-in-the-dark natural occurrence. These plants often have a high count of bioluminescence, a substance that emits visible light from living organisms, which results in an illuminating glow. The glowing happens as a result of the plant's pigmentation reacting to plant enzymes in addition to oxygen from Earth's atmosphere. These special plants include many types of mushrooms like oyster, jack-o'-lantern and honey mushrooms, ghost fungus and a plant called Panellus stipticus.