Abstract

Triboluminescent materials have been known for at least four centuries. The majority of work to date has been academic in nature – reporting a new triboluminescent material and/or presenting a spectroscopic study in an effort to explain the mechanism underlying the fracture-induced light emission. Recently, the advantages of triboluminescent materials as real-time structural damage sensors have been highlighted. These sensors can be exploited in both commercial and military markets. In addition to covering some of the recent advances in the field, this paper aims to provide a timely overview of those triboluminescent materials which may be suitable as structural damage sensors.