Dynamics of solvent and rotational relaxation of coumarin 153 in room-temperature ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate confined in Brij-35 micelles: A picosecond time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopic study

The dynamics of solvent and rotational relaxation of Coumarin 153 (C-153) in ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([bmim][PF6]) and in the ionic liquid confined in Brij-35 micellar aggregates have been investigated using steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. We observed slower dynamics in the presence of micellar aggregates as compared to the pure IL. However, the slowing down in the solvation time on going from neat IL to IL-confined micelles is much smaller compared to that on going from water to water-confined micellar aggregates. The increase in solvation and rotational time in micelles is attributed to the increase in viscosity of the medium. The slow component is assumed to be dependent on the viscosity of the solution and involves large-scale rearrangement of the anions and cations while fast component is assumed to originate from the initial response of the anions during excitation. The slow component increases due to the increase in the viscosity of the medium and increase in fast component is probably due to the hydrogen bonding between the anions and polar headgroup of the surfactant. The dynamics of solvent relaxation was affected to a small extent due to the micelle formation.