Studies of the electronic energy migration and trapping in polystyrene

Abstract

The transfer of electronic energy from polystyrene (PS) to an acceptor (a small molecule) as a function of PS concentration (c) in 1,2-dichloroethane has been studied. It has been concluded that in dilute PS solutions it is necessary to consider the energy migration (EM) in the PS chain, in contrast to concentrated PS solutions (c>0·4 mol litre⁻¹) in which the EM process does not take place. This has been explained by formation of intermolecular excimers, which along with intramolecular excimers, are responsible for the total restriction of the EM process in concentrated PS solutions.