Effect of chromophore diffusion on electronic excitation transfer in micellar systems

Abstract

An analytical theory and Monte Carlo simulations are used to study electronic excitation transport (EET) among chromophores diffusing on the surface of spherical micelles. The effect of molecular diffusion on the experimental observables is analyzed for two limiting cases, donor-trap (DT) and donor-donor (DD) EET. Analytical expressions are given for the time-dependent ensemble averaged survival probability of the excited donor P( t) in the DT case. Diffusion is found to have a pronounced effect on the excitation transfer kinetics except when chromophores have long Förster transfer distances R 0 and short fluorescence lifetimes.