China successfully researches glowing trees that can be recharged by sunlight

DNVN - A Chinese research team has successfully created a succulent plant that can glow in many colors and recharge itself with sunlight, opening up the prospect of green plants becoming a sustainable source of light in the future.

Succulents can glow in many colors and recharge with sunlight. Photo: Matter Magazine

According to CNN, at South China Agricultural University, scientists have created succulent plants that glow more brightly than any previously published luminescent plant, with the ability to emit many colors instead of just green light like previous experiments.

To achieve this effect, they injected Echeveria Mebina leaves with strontium aluminate particles, a material commonly found in glow-in-the-dark toys, which absorbs light and gradually glows over time. This approach, which does not rely on traditional genetic modification, as previous studies have used, allowed them to produce red, blue, and green light, rather than being limited to a single color.

With just a few minutes of exposure to sunlight, the plant can glow continuously for two hours and can be easily recharged multiple times when exposed to light. The team confirmed that after 25 days of treatment, the leaves still retained their ability to glow, even after they had wilted.

In the application test, scientists combined 56 plants to create a “wall” bright enough to clearly see letters, images and people at a distance of 10 cm. Biologist Shuting Liu, co-author of the project, said the goal is to turn this type of plant into a sustainable lighting system, able to absorb daylight to glow at night.

However, the feasibility is still doubtful among experts. Professor John Carr, a plant science specialist at the University of Cambridge, said that the light energy emitted is still too low to replace street lights. Even the research team admits that the tree is currently only suitable as a decoration or night light, not a functional light source. At the same time, the safety of the glow-in-the-dark beads for both plants and animals is still in progress.

Although still limited, Chinese scientists believe that if the light intensity can be improved and the lighting time can be extended, the prospect of gardens or public spaces softly lit by glowing plants can completely become a reality in the future.

Viet Anh

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/kham-pha/trung-quoc-nghien-cuu-thanh-cong-cay-phat-sang-co-the-sac-lai-bang-anh-sang-mat-troi/20250909082530194