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Host–Guest Interactions and Orientation of Dyes in the One-Dimensional Channels of Zeolite L
journal contribution
posted on 2016-02-19, 02:55 authored by Ettore Fois, Gloria Tabacchi, André Devaux, Peter Belser, Dominik Brühwiler, Gion CalzaferriA combined experimental and modeling
study of methylacridine (MeAcr+) dye-zeolite L composites
unravels the microscopic origin
of their functional properties. The anisotropic orientation of the
cationic dye inside the ZL channel is unambiguously determined and
understood. The most stable orientation of MeAcr+, which
features both its long and short molecular axes nearly perpendicular
to the channel axis, is mainly determined by dye-ZL electrostatic
interactions but also depends on the cosolvent water. In ZL, MeAcr+ is not hydrogen bonded to water or ZL framework oxygens and
is hydrophobically solvated by water molecules. These findings further
support the hypothesis that the cosolvent can importantly influence
properties of dye–zeolite composites. Of relevance for a deeper
comprehension of the physical chemistry of these hybrids is the observation
that trivial energy transfer processes (self-absorption) are often
playing a significant role in the optical properties of the composites.