Effects of the Surface Charge Density of Clay Minerals on Surface-Fixation Induced Emission of Acridinium Derivatives

Surface-fixation induced emission is a fluorescence enhancement phenomenon, which is expressed when dye molecules satisfy a specific adsorption condition on the anionic clay surface. The photophysical behaviors of two types of cationic acridinium derivatives [10-methylacridinium perchlorate (Acr(+)) and 10-methyl-9-phenylacridinium perchlorate (PhAcr(+))] on the synthetic saponites with different anionic charge densities were investigated. Under the suitable conditions, the fluorescence quantum yield (Phi(f)) of PhAcr(+) was enhanced 22.3 times by the complex formation with saponite compared to that in water without saponite. As the inter-negative charge distance of saponite increased from 1.04 to 1.54 nm, the Phi(f) of PhAcr(+) increased 1.25 times. In addition, the increase in the negative charge distance caused the increase in the integral value of the extinction coefficient and the radiative deactivation rate constant (k(f)) and the decrease in the nonradiative deactivation rate constant. It should be noted that the 2.3 times increase in kf is the highest among the reported values for the effect of clay. From these results, it was concluded that the photophysical properties of dyes can be modulated by changing the charge density of clay minerals.

Automated summary

The phenomenon of surface-fixation induced emission is demonstrated when dye molecules meet specific adsorption conditions on the anionic clay surface. The study showed that the fluorescence quantum yield (Φ(f)) of PhAcr(+) was enhanced significantly when complexed with saponite, and increased further with larger inter-negative charge distances on the saponite surface. Additionally, changes in the charge density of clay minerals can modulate the photophysical properties of dyes, with significant effects on the radiative deactivation rate constant.