Absorption and fluorescence of a nonionic detergent in aqueous solution

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Abstract
The absorption and fluorescence spectra of a detergent, polyoxyethylene octylphenyl ether, were measured in water at different concentrations. The absorption spectra had a peak at 275 mμ and a shoulder at 281 mμ. The spectra were independent of concentration below the critical micelle concentration, but the molar extinction coefficients of the peak and the shoulder increased with concentration above the critical micelle concentration. The critical micelle concentration value derived from the absorption data was in good agreement with those obtained by other methods. The fluorescence spectra of the detergent in water were independent of concentration in dilute solutions, if the intensities of the spectra were normalized at the peak at 302 mμ. At higher concentrations, a weak excimer band appeared at 345 mμ, whose intensity increased with concentration. The excimer band manifested itself at a concentration slightly lower than the critical micelle concentration. The main band decreased and the excimer band increased, as the temperature was raised. An excimer band was observed in the same region of the spectra for the pure detergent, either in the solid or liquid state. The equilibrium solid spectra exhibited a very strong excimer emission. It was concluded that the excimers were formed within micelles in the case of aqueous solutions.