Intermolecular Dynamics of Perylene in Polymer Matrices during the Drop-Casting Process Probed by Fluorescence and Droplet Mass Changes.

This work examines the drop-casting process of a perylene-doped polymer film by monitoring the changes in fluorescence and droplet mass. The mass is then used to estimate the mean intermolecular distance r( t) changes during the casting process. At a low perylene concentration (0.01 mol %), the fluorescence band was maintained during and after the casting process of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), whereas the r( t) values suggested that the perylene dimer does not form. With an increase in the perylene concentration in the casting droplet, significant fluorescence changes were observed at an r( t) value of ∼3.0 nm; this was comparable to the Förster distance between the monomers. Fluorescence changes were attributed to energy migration from the monomer to the small amount of dimer species formed by fluctuation in solution (e.g., amplified quenching). The monomer fluorescence band decreased according to second-order kinetics after the formation of the excimer fluorescence band by molecular association. Following the decrease in monomer emission due to association, the excimer emission originated from the excitation of both the monomer and ground-state dimer. Fluorescence spectral changes did not reveal any significant dependence of the casting process on the polymer matrices. The minor changes of the fluorescence spectra originated from the reabsorption and segregation of the perylene crystals in the films, depending on the polymers (PMMA, polystyrene, and Zeonex) employed. This was attributed to the intermolecular interaction between perylene and the polymer side chains. Real-time monitoring of the mean distance of the dye during the casting process can provide a suitable fabrication process for functional polymer films by the spin and drop-casting methods. Moreover, the intermolecular dynamics for molecular assembly and nucleation and growth of crystals can be elucidated by studying the fluorescence changes.