Self-association of rhodamine dyes in different host materials.

ABSTRACT

The aggregation of rhodamine 6G in liquid crystalline solution (anisotropic host) was studied using polarised spectroscopy and in a guest-host system. The self-association of rhodamine B was investigated in molecular sieves of type AlPO(4)-5 (microporous host) using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Also, the molecular interaction of rhodamines in normal solvents (isotropic hosts) was studied using visible spectroscopy for comparison. Therefore, the role of the host nature in the different phases on the self-association of the guest molecules has been investigated and compared. The absorption spectrum of the rhodamine dye in liquid crystalline host is affected by a specific interaction related to the alignment by the liquid crystal property as well as solvent polarity. Due to the existence of a large amount of water molecules absorbed into channels and cavities of aluminophosphate molecular sieve, the maximum absorption wavelengths of the dye loaded AlPO(4)-5 is affected by aqueous environment of the aluminophosphate pores.