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18 April 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Stephen Collett
Prof Ted Kroon
Prof Ted Kroon from the Department of Physics recently delivered his inaugural lecture on the topic What’s the use of a rainbow on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus.

“A rainbow is a natural phenomenon, the result of the refraction and reflection of the sun’s rays in drops of rain. As far as mankind is concerned, it’s a perfectly useless object and won’t make anyone money. Yet the poet who said, My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky, only put into word the feeling of wonder and excitement we all have when we see a rainbow.”

“Every day I see a rainbow in my work; I do not need to wait to see one in the sky,” says Prof Ted Kroon, Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of the Free State (UFS), who used this phenomenon to introduce the topic of his inaugural lecture: What’s the use of a rainbow. 

“Far from being only a colourful spectacle with no practical value, rainbows are useful – and lead to useful things,” he believes. 

According to Prof Kroon, one can find examples of real rainbows and rainbow analogies used not only in everyday life, but also in physics. “Besides it being familiar devices in literature, culture, and even marketing, studies of rainbows can yield practical engineering information and may even help us to find new habitable planets,” he says.

Inspired by the many uses of a rainbow

In his lecture, he discussed the basic features of natural rainbows and how they come about. He also explored how the rainbow gives meaning to colour, and how this relates to the temperature of objects. He looked at an array of instances where the rainbow is used; from depicting the life of a star to indicating that we are sick (a thermometer) or when we need to refill a gas cylinder.
Moreover, Prof Kroon pointed out that rainbows are used in computer chips, stress identification, and to transmit internet data through underwater cables of glass fibre. He also referred to how the rainbow was harnessed as an engineering tool to measure refractive index and characterise fine droplet sprays used in industry. 

He continues, “Remarkably, the science developed to understand the natural rainbow can be redirected and applied to the optical properties of metallic nanoparticles, allowing the development of nanotechnology. Knowing how the natural rainbow works and its limitations, better systems have been developed to produce rainbows. Such rainbows have been used to discover new elements and to determine the age of the universe.”

As a member of an international community of phosphor researchers who are privileged to work with rainbows every day, he has used them to study the light-emitting properties of materials doped with bismuth. With this project – an initiative with the African Laser Centre taking place between 2016 and 2021 – he collaborated with the University of Khartoum in Sudan and trained a number of its postgraduate students. “My role included the guidance of students and the measurement and interpretation of the light-emitting properties of the materials. Our research during this time, considering more than a dozen materials, was summarised in 34 scientific publications that contributed to a greater understanding of bismuth ions as light-emitting materials,” he explains. 

Developing new materials, efficient in emitting blue light

He has been developing luminescent materials since 2006, primarily for general lighting (fluorescent tubes and LEDs) and displays (television, computer, and cellphone screens), as well as niche applications in medical and forensic science. 

As part of his current research, he is examining the effect of plasmonic metal nanoparticles on phosphor light emission. He is also exploring materials that absorb infrared light but emit visible light. “For this, I would like to consider the long-term stability of such materials and develop new materials that are more efficient in emitting particularly blue light,” he says. 

Prof Kroon holds a C2 rating from the National Research Foundation and has published more than 150 articles and book chapters, obtaining a Scopus h-index of 26.

News Archive

An exceptional year at Kovsies — one of the most successful years in academic achievement
2014-12-04

 

The University of the Free State (UFS) had an exceptional year, with many staff members and students performing both nationally and internationally. Considerable progress has also been made in improving the academic standards of the university.

“So far, this has been one of the most successful years in academic achievement. The UFS now has the highest academic pass rate in years, partly as a result of the admission standards which were raised four years ago.

“We now also have the highest rate of research publications, one of the highest publication figures for scholarly books in history, three Mandela Rhodes scholars and several international communication awards”, says Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS.

“The university now attracts top professors from all over the country and other parts of the world and for the first time in many years, two researchers received A-ratings from the National Research Foundation (NRF). This is the first time in the history of the UFS that two A-ratings were awarded simultaneously. The most researchers ever were rated by the NRF this year. After the constant turmoil of a few years ago, Kovsies has now become one of the most stable campuses in South Africa,” Prof Jansen says.

The impartial findings of a recent survey of UFS stakeholders showed that our values are endorsed by 92%; 86% agrees with our vision; 81% agree with our goals; 77% agree with our transformation; 78% believe that we are inclusive; and 78% applauded our overall reputation index. “These figures are very different from a few years ago when the university experienced a crisis,” he says.
 
According to Prof Jansen, the UFS’s financial situation is one of the most stable of all universities in South Africa, with a strong balance sheet and growing financial reserves – way better than before. This is exactly the reason why the UFS received confirmation from the Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors (IRBA) this year that we complied with international standards of reporting for the financial year which ended on 31 December 2013.

“I am also pleased to report that the crisis in the delivery of health services in the Free State province has been resolved due to collaboration between the UFS Management (including the Dean: Health Sciences and Head of the School of Medicine), the Department of Health and the Premier, Mr Ace Magashule. Although the loss of skilled personnel is still a concern, the Dean and Head of the School of Medicine are recreating the Health Services Platform at Universitas Hospital. However, the academic training of no undergraduate medical student or any student in the Health Sciences was influenced by the crisis in the Universitas and Pelonomi Hospitals”, he says.

The UFS is regarded around the world as a model of transformation and reconciliation in the student body. The recent SRC elections are only the most visible example of how far we have come in terms of leadership diversity. “Not a week goes by in which other universities, nationally and abroad, do not come to Kovsies to consult with us on how they can learn from us and deepen their own transformations, especially among students”, Prof Jansen says.

“The UFS will continue its model of inclusive transformation which provides opportunities for study and for employment for all South Africans, including international students and colleagues. We remain committed to our parallel-medium instruction in which Afrikaans remains a language of instruction; we are in fact the only medical school in the country that offers education and training in Afrikaans and not only English. We provide bursaries and overseas study opportunities to all our students, irrespective of race. And our ‘future professors’ programme is richly diverse as we seek the academic stars of the future. But we remain steadfast in our goal of making the UFS a top world university in its academic ambitions and its human commitments,” Prof Jansen says.

 

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