Materials 2015, 8(8), 5265-5275; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma8085240
Plant Growth Absorption Spectrum Mimicking Light Sources
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
2
Organic Materials Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247 667, India
3
Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
4
Department of Life Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Harold Freeman
Received: 11 June 2015 / Revised: 28 July 2015 / Accepted: 10 August 2015 / Published: 13 August 2015
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Developments in Organic Dyes and Pigments)
Abstract
Plant factories have attracted increasing attention because they can produce fresh fruits and vegetables free from pesticides in all weather. However, the emission spectra from current light sources significantly mismatch the spectra absorbed by plants. We demonstrate a concept of using multiple broad-band as well as narrow-band solid-state lighting technologies to design plant-growth light sources. Take an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), for example; the resulting light source shows an 84% resemblance with the photosynthetic action spectrum as a twin-peak blue dye and a diffused mono-peak red dye are employed. This OLED can also show a greater than 90% resemblance as an additional deeper red emitter is added. For a typical LED, the resemblance can be improved to 91% if two additional blue and red LEDs are incorporated. The approach may facilitate either an ideal use of the energy applied for plant growth and/or the design of better light sources for growing different plants. View Full-Text
Figure 1
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Jou, J.-H.; Lin, C.-C.; Li, T.-H.; Li, C.-J.; Peng, S.-H.; Yang, F.-C.; Thomas, K.R.J.; Kumar, D.; Chi, Y.; Hsu, B.-D. Plant Growth Absorption Spectrum Mimicking Light Sources. Materials 2015, 8, 5265-5275.
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