Fluorescence study of film formation from PS/Al2O3 nanocomposites

Abstract

Steady state fluorescence (SSF) and UV-vis (UVV) techniques were used to study the film formation behavior of pyrene (P) labeled polystyrene (PS) latex and Al2O3 (PS/Al2O3) composites depending on PS particles size and Al2O3 content. The close-packed arrays of PS spheres (SmPS: 203 nm ; LgPS: 382 nm) templates on clean glass substrates were covered with various layers of Al2O3 by dip-coating method. Two different film series (SmPS/Al2O3 and LgPS/Al2O3) were prepared in various Al2O3 layer content. The film formation behavior of these composites were studied by annealing them at a temperature range of 100-250 degrees C and monitoring the scattered light intensity (I-sc) fluorescence intensity (I-p) from P and transmitted light intensity (I-tr) through the films after each annealing step. Optical results indicate that classical latex film formation was occurred for all Al2O3 content films and film formation process was unaffected by the Al2O3 content for both film series. Extraction of PS template produced highly ordered porous structures for high Al2O3 content in both film series. SEM images showed that the pore size and porosity could be easily tailored by varying the PS particle size and the Al2O3 content. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.