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Effects of absorption overlap on the modulation of the polarized fluorescence of Eu(DBM)3Phen-doped azobenzene polymer films

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Abstract

Two azopolymers, poly(4-(4′-nitrophenylazo)phenoxy)hexyl methacrylate (PNAzoPOH) and poly(6-(N-methyl-N-(4-(4′-nitrophenylazo)phenyl)amino)hexyl methacrylate) (PNAzoPAH), bearing strong push–pull azobenzene chromophores, have been designed and synthesized. Azopolymer films doped with a europium complex, tris(dibenzoylmethanido)(o-phenanthroline)europium(III) (Eu(DBM)3Phen), were prepared by a drop-casting method. UV-vis spectra indicated that the absorption peak of Eu(DBM)3Phen at 365 nm overlaps with that of PNAzoPOH, rather than that of PNAzoPAH. Polarized fluorescence from both of the oriented films was observed to depend on the absorption overlap between the complex and the azopolymer. When excited by unpolarized light at 365 nm, the polarization ratio R of Eu(DBM)3Phen-doped PNAzoPOH film shows an obvious decreasing trend with increasing irradiation time, and the ratio R of Eu(DBM)3Phen-doped PNAzoPAH film has a relative stable value of about 1.47. When excited by polarized light at 365 nm, the florescence intensities from the two films show different dependences upon the angle between the direction of orientation of the film and the direction of polarization of the excitation light: for Eu(DBM)3Phen-doped PNAzoPOH film, the strength of the polarized fluorescence depended on the direction of polarization of the excitation light; for Eu(DBM)3Phen-doped PNAzoPAH film, no such dependence was observed. These different results arise due to differences between the azopolymers in terms of the allocation of energy between the oriented azobenzene groups and the complex.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos: 50703038, 50773075 and 50533040), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (kjcx3.syw.H02 and kjcx2-yw-m11), and the National Basic Research Program of China (No.2006cb302900). The authors are grateful for their financial support and express thanks to the referees for critically reviewing the manuscript and making important suggestions.

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  1. Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Science and Technology, Anhui Province, CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, People’s Republic of China

    Qing Yan, Yeping Wu, Xin Wang, Yanhua Luo, Gang Zou & Qijin Zhang

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  1. Qing Yan
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  2. Yeping Wu
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  3. Xin Wang
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  5. Gang Zou
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Correspondence to Qing Yan or Qijin Zhang.

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Yan, Q., Wu, Y., Wang, X. et al. Effects of absorption overlap on the modulation of the polarized fluorescence of Eu(DBM)3Phen-doped azobenzene polymer films. J Polym Res 17, 707–712 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-009-9359-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-009-9359-7

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