UV–Vis Reflection–Absorption Spectroscopy at air–liquid interfaces

Abstract

UV–Visible Reflection–Absorption Spectroscopy (UVRAS) technique is reviewed with a general perspective on fundamental and applications. UVRAS is formally identical to IR Reflection–Absorption Spectroscopy (IRRAS), and therefore, the methodology developed for this IR technique can be applied in the UV–visible region. UVRAS can be applied to air–solid, air–liquid or liquid–liquid interfaces. This review focuses on the use of UVRAS for studying Langmuir monolayers. We introduce the theoretical framework for a successful understanding of the UVRAS data, and we illustrate the usage of this data treatment to a previous study from our group comprising an amphiphilic porphyrin. For ultrathin films with a thickness of few nm, UVRAS produces positive or negative bands when p-polarized radiation is used, depending on the incidence angle and the orientation of dipole absorption. UVRAS technique provides highly valuable information on tilt of chromophores at the air–liquid interface, and moreover allows the determination of optical parameters. We propose UVRAS as a powerful technique to investigate the in situ optical properties of Langmuir monolayers.