Juan Carlos Rubio Avalos and his team invented a phosphorescent cement which can illuminate highways, bike paths or buildings without using electricity.

According to the researcher at the Michoacan University of San Nicolás de Hidalgo in Mexico, cement is an opaque body, it does not allow the passage of light to the interior, so they made a change in its microstructure to allow a partial entry of light into the interior for it to have this behavior.

Phosphorescent materials absorb energy from radiation such as the ultraviolet light emitted by the sun—or by lamps, if indoors—energy they later emit as light, which can be seen after dark. As it loads up energetically with ultraviolet rays, even on cloudy days the cement will be able to absorb enough energy to glow during dark periods for up to 12 hours.