Radioluminescent Coolant -- Cool or Crazy idea?

[flymousechiu]

 

This video gave me an idea, but I am not sure whether it is any good.

 

Lighting can be achieved through absorbing the decay energy of radioactive elements by a phosphor. If we have a solution composed of a radioactive element and a phosphor, we can make a long-lasting luminescent coolant.

 

Before the "radiation dangerous bad" talks, there are ways to limit the safety risks posed by the use of a radioactive element, especially by choosing an element where the decay mode is primarily composed of alpha/beta particles with a relatively short half-life. For example, tritium (with a half-life of 12.32 years) decomposes exclusively through low energy beta emission, or that it shoots out a lone electron during its decay. According to this nuclide safety data sheet, the "beta range" is just 6 millimeters in air, and it is considered "not an external radiation hazard". When placed inside a custom loop inside a computer case, it should not cause any discernible increase in radiation level in the room, except in very small amounts over time due to the natural permeation of coolant out of the loop.

 

Tritium is currently used, albeit in very small quantities, commercially in a lot of illumination applications, with a price tag that makes it commercially viable at least among flashlight and watchmaking enthusiasts. Tritium sale is regulated within the US, the only country in the world, but not against imports, and there is a market consistent enough to make suppliers such as Mixglo exist.

 

Of course, there are risks associated with spills, particularly if handled irresponsibly by users like Linus. There are also additional concerns with the long-term permeation and inhalation of the product. But if a user understands and accepts all risks associated with such product, and the custom-loop enthusiasts have a taste for self-illuminating coolant liquids, is it perceivable for such a supplier for radioluminescent coolant to exist?

 

Has anybody ever given serious thoughts into this matter?

 

[manikyath]

i havent read trough half of the post, because i've already got a show-stopper argument against this...

 

even if we assume the long-term biological effects are neglible, radiation is *the* reason we have bit-flips in computer memory, *and* it degrades integrated circuits like your CPU and GPU.

 

and you're planning to put this <1cm away from a $300 piece of silicon.

[Fasauceome]

12 minutes ago, flymousechiu said:

Of course, there are risks associated with spills, particularly if handled irresponsibly by users like Linus. There are also additional concerns with the long-term permeation and inhalation of the product

This probably makes it good for an enthusiast custom loop/cool one-off idea. But as a consumer product, I think the era of radioactive consumer products has long passed. 

 

13 minutes ago, flymousechiu said:

and the custom-loop enthusiasts have a taste for self-illuminating coolant liquids

If a radioactive substance provided a unique glow effect, one that couldn't be achieved by a non-radioactive material, maybe. But some cool glowing can already be achieved imo

[manikyath]

6 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

This probably makes it good for an enthusiast custom loop/cool one-off idea. But as a consumer product, I think the era of radioactive consumer products has long passed. 

 

If a radioactive substance provided a unique glow effect, one that couldn't be achieved by a non-radioactive material, maybe. But some cool glowing can already be achieved imo

i think it's mostly that there is no need for the coolant to be it's own power source for the light output (that's what both bioluminesence and radioluminiesence is) .. because we have UV reactive stuff that'll provide a bright glow even if hit with a relatively minor amount of UV, and it just so happens that a computer case can have UV LEDs in it. and while UV is far from ideal.. it's much less problematic than bioloical matter in your coolant, or mildly radioactive matter in your coolant.

[flymousechiu]

37 minutes ago, manikyath said:

radiation is *the* reason we have bit-flips in computer memory, *and* it degrades integrated circuits like your CPU and GPU

Upon some reading, I found that the "radiation" associated with bit-flips are mostly associated with free neutrons, which works entirely differently to the beta emissions caused by tritium.

 

Also, the shielding provided by the acrylic should pretty much block out virtually all beta particles produced by the coolant already.

[flymousechiu]

36 minutes ago, manikyath said:

because we have UV reactive stuff that'll provide a bright glow even if hit with a relatively minor amount of UV,

I have never paid much attention to custom water cooling and I did not think about UV-powered luminescence. However, on second thought UV should accomplish much of the same effect without all those risks associated with my proposal, so yeah, I agree that UV-powered luminescence is a far superior alternative to radioluminescence.

[SorryBella]

6 hours ago, flymousechiu said:

I agree that UV-powered luminescence is a far superior alternative to radioluminescence.

And the thing is that its a very proven tech. People been using it in computers since the dawn of custom watercooling. Theyre not as durable as standard lighting but they do still have merits.