What’s that stuff? Glow sticks

Abstract

Breaking something rarely sparks joy—unless you’re activating a glow stick. Just bend the plastic baton until you hear a snap, and behold, you have a radiant wand to illuminate your way. Whether you’re trick-or-treating on Halloween or dancing the night away, glow sticks provide a cool source of light. That light is made by a chemical reaction—a phenomenon known as chemiluminescence. In glow sticks, the chemicals that react together to create the light are kept separate until the right moment. The glow stick’s outer plastic tube holds a solution of an oxalate ester and an electron-rich dye along with a glass vial filled with a hydrogen peroxide solution. The signature snap that starts the reaction signals that you’ve broken the glass tube, releasing the hydrogen peroxide. When the chemicals mix, the reaction goes through several steps before releasing light. First, the hydrogen peroxide and oxalate ester react to form a