Interfacial electron transfer and modification of optical emission in Rhodamine 6G doped Polystyrene micro fibrous matrix by the incorporation of TiO2 nanoparticles

Abstract

Polymer nano and micro fibrous systems in their dye doped or nanoparticle doped forms are extensively researched due to their interesting optical properties. This paper reports the optical and structural characterization of polystyrene (PS) based electrospun polymer microfiber (PMF) system and the effect of incorporation of the dye Rhodamine6G (R6G) and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2) into it. TiO2 nanoparticles were used as the optical element in the current dye-polymer system. The optimization of concentration of nanoparticles in a polymer matrix is found to be significant in the formation of fibers of smooth morphology and texture. PMF of PS in the pure form and the R6G, TiO2 and both R6G and TiO2 doped forms were subjected to scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Optical absorption and Fluorescence spectroscopy analysis. The dye sensitization ability of TiO2 nanoparticles was observed in the R6G and TiO2 incorporated PS PMF system. The interfacial electron transfer between R6G and TiO2, resulted in the suppression of optical emission of the R6G doped PS PMF system.