Abstract
The incorporation of a prototypical rosamine fluorescent dye from organic solutions into transparent and microstructured columnar TiO and SiO (MO) thin films, prepared by evaporation at glancing angles (GAPVD), was evaluated. The aggregation of the adsorbed molecules, the infiltration efficiency and the adsorption kinetics were studied by means of UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence spectroscopies. Specifically, the infiltration equilibrium as well as the kinetic of adsorption of the emitting dye has been described by a Langmuir type adsorption isotherm and a second order kinetic model, respectively. The anchoring mechanism of the rosamine to the MO matrix has been revealed by specular reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and infiltration from aqueous solutions at different pH values. Finally, the sensing performance towards NO gas of optimized films has been assessed by following the changes of its fluorescence intensity revealing that the so-selected device exhibited improved sensing response compared to similar hybrid films reported in the literature.
Highlights
Xanthene dyes comprise a set of molecular architectures that possess efficient absorptive and fluorescence properties
In TiO2, we found a slight shift to the blue with infiltration time for the diluted rosamine B (RosB) solution as a result of the adsorption from the inner to the outer surface as it can be deduced from the closeness of the maximum fluorescence intensity with respect to the monomer emission in solution
The incorporation of a rosamine into transparent and microstructured columnar TiO2 and SiO2 thin films prepared by glancing angle physical vapor deposition (GAPVD) have been investigated
Summary
Xanthene dyes comprise a set of molecular architectures that possess efficient absorptive and fluorescence properties. In combination with specific singularities acquired upon selective functionalization of the xanthene moiety, their applications have been progressively extended among a large landscape of technological areas [1,2,3,4,5,6]. The sensitizing effect provoked by the environment in rhodamine fluorophores has been widely employed as part of hybrid materials in fields as dye sensitized solar cells or chemosensing [7,8,9,10,11] Their intense fluorescence emission allows their use as fluorescent probes, laser dyes, pigments, fluorescent standards or detection of reactive organic species [12,13,14,15]. These molecules are widely used in biotechnology—for example, in the study of the membranes fluidity, the structure and dynamics of micelles, imaging in cells, and in sensors for the detection of mercury, copper, iron and chromium in cells [16,17,18,19].
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