Nonionic fluorescent oligomeric surfactant for ordered mesoporous silica structure

A fluorescent oligomeric surfactant was prepared by multi-step synthesis and was used to synthesize ordered mesostructured organic/inorganic silica composites. The fluorescent surfactant completely fills the nano-channels and the emission spectrum shows that the composite is red-shifted 32 nm when compared with the surfactant in aqueous solution. The brightness of the nanocomposites is higher and the emission wavelength is red-shifted as compared to that of the free surfactant. By varying the host-guest interactions and orientations in the nanochannels, the luminescence of the chromophore-surfactant may be judiciously controlled.