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Fluorescence properties of fluor molecules confined within nanoscale pores in a polymer matrix

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Abstract

We demonstrate that fluorescence properties of organic fluors embedded in a porous polystyrene matrix are highly sensitive to the average pore size and pore-size distribution of the matrix. The effect can be understood as two different types of confinement imposed to the fluor molecules by the matrix. First, there is geometrical confinement that restricts the fluor oscillations due to its physical contact with a pore wall. Second, there is an electronic confinement due to a local polarization of the wall material by molecular dipoles. The effects lead to a spectral shift and enhancement of the fluorescence intensity of the material.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Basic Research Award #HDTRA1-12-1-0012, to Clemson University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, 29634, USA

    Valery N. Bliznyuk, Ayman F. Seliman & Timothy A. DeVol

  2. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, 29634, USA

    Scott M. Husson

  3. Department of Chemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, 29634, USA

    George Chumanov

Authors
  1. Valery N. Bliznyuk
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  2. Ayman F. Seliman
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  3. Scott M. Husson
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  4. George Chumanov
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  5. Timothy A. DeVol
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Valery N. Bliznyuk.

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For supplementary material for this article, please visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2015.38

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Bliznyuk, V.N., Seliman, A.F., Husson, S.M. et al. Fluorescence properties of fluor molecules confined within nanoscale pores in a polymer matrix. MRS Communications 5, 347–252 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2015.38

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2015.38

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