Abstract
Evanescent-wave-generated or total-reflection-fluorescence spectroscopy was shown by Fattinger et al. (Ch. Fattinger, F. Honegger, W. Lukosz, Phys. Rev. Lett. 57 (1986) 2536) to offer an elegant route to the study of liquid/solid wetting phenomena near liquid–liquid critical solution points. Their pioneering work was confined to a particular kind of mixture exhibiting a lower critical solution point. Here we review the principal factors, some not explicitly discussed by Fattinger et al., which determine the fluorescence-temperature profile in such measurements, and we generalize their discussion inter alia to include the more common case of mixtures exhibiting an upper critical solution temperature. Additionally, we draw attention to newer methods of characterising the identity of the wetting and wetted phases based on the effect of the changing compositions of these phases on (i) the absorption and emission spectra and (ii) the luminescence lifetime of the fluorescent probe molecule which widen the scope of the application of the technique.
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