Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Visual Art Chemistry - umm help?

ljweidner - 5-1-2013 at 15:27

I won't claim to have much understanding regarding chemistry so I'm here to learn. Seeking suggestions for a visual chemical reaction

I am an artist living in Philadelphia. A new project I am taking on would make use of chemicals that have a well timed, visually reactive nature. If there are any chemists who can recommend where I can look for more information on this matter or some materials or substrates that could work for what I'm seeking to achieve would be most beneficial.

The effect will be one where the color of a surface changes during a specified time range. Upon activating the surface with an agent, a predictably timed transition from white > gray > black, or reversed, or any other color would work. An ideal scenerio allows 2 hours latency from activation until color change begins occurring and take approximately 1/2 hour. If you are aware of anything that could work for this purpose but doesn't fit those exact time constraints, I'm still interested in hearing about it.

Considering it's best for this to be something that people can witness, it would be best if this was non-toxic, non-combustable. Thanks in advance