Fluorescence study of film formation from PS/Al2O3 nanocomposites

Abstract

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 Al 2 O 3 (PS/Al 2 O 3 ) composites depending on PS particles size and Al 2 O 3 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 Al 2 O 3 by dip-coating method. Two different film series (SmPS/Al 2 O 3 and LgPS/Al 2 O 3 ) were prepared in various Al 2 O 3 layer content. The film formation behavior of these composites were studied by annealing them at a temperature range of 100–250 °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 Al 2 O 3 content films and film formation process was unaffected by the Al 2 O 3 content for both film series. Extraction of PS template produced highly ordered porous structures for high Al 2 O 3 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 Al 2 O 3 content.