Almost 100 years of experience with phosphorescent pigments and radioactivity

Our company history began in 1934, when Albert Moritz Zeller founded Radium Chemie AG in sunny Teufen in Appenzellerland, from which RC Tritec AG  emerged in 1993.

As a trained pharmacist, Albert Moritz Zeller set out in search of a high-tech application and found what he was looking for in the newly discovered radioactivity: Radium 226, which was used for the first time for the selective treatment of tumours, promised a broad field of application that was beneficial for general health. In his country house, Albert Moritz Zeller developed and marketed glasses of water with a Radium-226 source embedded in the bottom as a drinking cure. 

Shortly afterwards, Albert Moritz began producing a radium-based phosphorescent paint at the same time. This was in fierce competition with numerous other suppliers. 

After the initially praised Radium-226 proved to be harmful to health, Albert Moritz Zeller and his son Albert Eduard searched for a safe substitute for the production of phosphorescent colors. They found what they were looking for in tritium, an isotope of hydrogen. In 1961, Radium Chemie AG was the first manufacturer to be granted an import licence for the American watch market with the new phosphor technology activated by tritium. This marked the beginning of our leading role in the field of luminescent pigments for the watch industry. Even then, all the well-known Western watch brands were among our customers. 

However, the luminous paint activated with tritium was still radioactive. For this reason, Albert Reinhard Zeller, Managing Director of the 3rd generation, searched in the early 90s for an alternative that was safe to handle. 

In close collaboration with long-time partners, he developed a ceramic afterglow pigment based on strontium aluminate doped with rare earth elements. This innovative material made it possible to save UV light and release it as visible light with a time delay. This invention laid the foundation for today's leading phosphorescent pigment for the watch industry: Swiss Super-LumiNova^®.

In the following years, we worked intensively on the research and development of afterglow pigments. The results are various qualities, emission colours and over 5'000 different body colours in different grain sizes. 

We also developed various options regarding the application. Today, we manufacture all the necessary tools for applying Swiss Super-LumiNova® pigments, develop customised application processes for our partners in our prototype studio, and by request, we also manufacture afterglow elements made entirely from Swiss Super-LumiNova^®.

Naturally, we did not want to lose our experience in the field of radioactivity and in handling tritium. In search of alternative applications in the early 90s, we played a key role in the co-development of a labelling system for active pharmaceutical ingredients. 

Tritium makes it relatively easy to label promising active ingredients and visualise their effect. To get an autorisation for a new medicine, a proof of efficacy is a prerequisite. 

In this important process, we take on the role of labeller for a wide range of customers from the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. We offer both customer-specific labelled molecules and a catalogue of recurring standard molecules.

We also offer suitable equipment for handling tritium and other radioactive gases, which we manufacture ourselves in our mechanical workshop. 

Other interdisciplinary applications not listed here, such as scintillators for the detection of neutrons or the disposal of ionising waste, are the result of our interdisciplinary research and close collaboration with our partners. To name them all here would go beyond the scope of this article.

Despite our long history, we have always kept our feet on the ground and look forward to sharing Swiss Quality with our partners every day.