Under the leadership of the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Chemistry academic staff member Prof. Dr. Huriye İcil, the “Red Fluorescent Signage Project” developed with 2011-2012 Academic Year Organic Research group (Dr. Duygu Uzun, Dr. Süleyman Asır, Dr. Jagadeesh Babu Bodapati, İlke Yücekan and Dr. Hürmüs Refiker), formerly received two different awards in the 2nd International R&D-MARKET competition organised by Istanbul Chemicals and Chemical Products Exporters' Association (İKMİB) ) in 2012. The project was deemed worthy of both the first prize in the "Paints and Adhesives" category, and the "Grand Award Beyond Categories" among all categories and projects. With the progress made in the project, Prof. Dr. Huriye İCİL has been deemed worthy of the Success Story award in the "R&D Project Market" competition, which was held for the 10th time this year by İKMİB.
Demand for the Project from Bursa
Making statements about the recent achievement, EMU Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Chemistry academic staff member Prof. Dr. Huriye İCİL expressed that the result they achieved in the international competition held in 2012 paved the way for the commercialization of the project. Prof. Dr. Huriye İCİL said, “After being deemed worthy of the highest award in the competition held in 5 different categories with the participation of 96 universities, we continued our work. In 2014, Prysmian Group from Bursa-Mudanya contacted me and invited me to their factory. There, as a result of the meetings held at the level of managers, we decided that this project was suitable for them, and we started the relevant work. In this context, the process for the commercialization of the material and the establishment of a company at EMU TECHNOPARK is ongoing.”
“We Have Produced Very Strong Paint”
Giving information about the award-winning product, Prof. Dr. İcil said, “Our product is about solid-state fluorescent paints. As is known, fluorescent paint do not glow in the dark. Fluorescent paint absorbs ultraviolet black light and shine by reflecting it at a longer wavelength, thus turning the paint into a lamp. Of course, the more of the absorbed light it can reflect, the stronger its luminescence. Today, the price of solid-luminescent fluorescent dyes is very high due to the small number of fluorescent paint. The paint we produce is a very strong luminescent dye from solid state. It reflects and shines all of the light it absorbs, both in solution and in solid form, at a longer wavelength. Of course, this is not enough for applications. The material must have high thermal and photochemical resistance, not deteriorate with temperature or light, have a very good solubility and should not dissolve in water for outdoor applications, otherwise the rain will take it away and you will not be able to apply it. It is very difficult to collect all these properties in a synthesized material. Our solid-luminescent fluorescent paint is resistant to heat up to 400 degrees, does not deteriorate with light, has super solubility and is insoluble in water.
“We are Very Happy and Proud on Behalf of EMU”
Stating that such paints are called black light paints, Prof. Dr. İCİL said, “Black light paints are generally used in fraud inspections. Today, small devices in banks with which they check money have ultraviolet black light. What is observed in the device is the luminescent dye. This proves that the money is not fake. At the same time, it has important applications in museums, antiques, detecting very fine holes on technological engines and in the military field. These paints are also used in the creation of organic light-emitting diodes (OLED). With this project, we received two different awards from İKMİB. We continued to work on our project and produced prototypes. One of our prototypes has been shining as a sign at the entrance of our laboratory at EMU since 2012. We participated in the 10th R&D Market event with our success story and received an award again. They presented us our third award. We are very happy and proud on behalf of EMU.”
