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Photo by V. Miller
Making Clunkers Shine
Fluorescent Waxes: A New Class of Chemically Modified Waxes
Prem Thottumkara, 14, Macomb, Ill.
Emerging Networks' "U.S. Space and Rocket Center" Award, Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge, 2007
Project background: Prem's brother had a beat-up old car, and Prem noticed that waxing it seemed to make the spots on its finish go away. Prem got an idea to create a wax that would fluoresce and make old clunkers appear shiny again. He hypothesized that wax synthesized directly from fluorophores—and added to commercial car waxes—would impart a fluorescent effect on car wax and onto any polished surface.
Tactics and results: Waxes are esters of long-chain fatty acids and alcohols. For his experiment, Prem wanted to use fluorophores that could be modified into wax molecules. He decided that fluorescein and 4-methyl-6,7-dihydroxy coumarin were good candidates based on their chemical structures. He reacted the coumarin with other compounds to form a coumarin diester, a coumarin monoester and a coumarin diether. Then he reacted the fluorescein to form a fluorescein monoether. He mixed these synthesized waxes into commercial car wax and applied the resulting wax to filter paper disks placed under ultraviolet light. A paper with regular car wax was used as a control.
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| Photo by V. Miller |
Prem found that the synthesized waxes imparted a brightening effect, with the diether compound yielding the best results, thereby proving his hypothesis.
To get science project ideas and expert advice from Science Buddies, go to www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/areas_of_science.shmtl.
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