Photostability enhancement of azoic dyes adsorbed and intercalated into Mg-Al-layered double hydroxide

Two azoic dyes 4-aminoazobenzene-4-sulfonic (AS) and ethyl orange (EO) were adsorbed on or intercalated into Mg-Al-CO3 layered double hydroxide (LDH) for photostability enhancement. Fluorescence analysis results showed that the photostability of two dyes could be greatly improved after being adsorbed on the surface of Mg-Al-CO3-LDH Matrix. Furthermore, photostability of adsorbed dyes was superior to that of intercalated dyes. It was suggested that AS or EO was adsorbed on LDHs surface through a strong chemisorption interaction, resulting in the enhancement of photostability. After the UV irradiation under N-2 atmosphere, the absorbed dyes not only show great increase of fluorescence intensity but also exhibited high stability against UV irradiation. This work provides a feasible approach to enhance the photostability of azoic dye confined in an inorganic two-dimensional (2D) matrix via changing the microenvironment, which may be considered to be a promising method of improving photostability of solid fluoresc ent materials. Crown Copyright (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.