Direct Formation of Carbocyanine J-Aggregates in Organic Solvent

Sivan Harazi, Omree Kapon, Amos Sharoni, Ya'Akov R. Tischler

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

J-aggregates are molecular nanoscale self-assemblies with distinct excitonic properties, such as highly delocalized excitons, making them main candidates for designing excitonic energy transfer systems. Here, we show a technique to form J-aggregates of the cyanine dye 1,1′-dioctyl-3,3′-di(4sulfobutyl)-5,5′,6,6′-tetrachloro-benzimidazolocarbocyanine (C8S4) in organic solutions of chloroform and acetone. These J-aggregates have a spectrum with three red-shifted absorption peaks and two sharp emission peaks. Spin-coated thin films of C8S4 aggregates have similar spectra. Investigation of the thin films via electron microscopy shows two morphologies of aggregates, which partially explains the complicated spectra. We have shown two ways for isolating the type of aggregate with the lowest transition energy. Atomic force microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy images of the aggregates reveal a 2D brickstone arrangement. Finally, J-aggregating C8S4 from organic solvent will enable mixing J-aggregates directly with various fluorescent organic compounds, thereby expanding the options for designing energy transfer systems based on J-aggregates.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)19087-19093
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry C
Volume123
Issue number31
DOIs
StatePublished - 8 Aug 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 American Chemical Society.

Funding

FIRST Program of the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 206923). The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the FIRST Program of the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 206923). We also thank Dr. Hagit Aviv for her help with the experiments, and Dillon Schiff for the preliminary findings. We are also grateful to Dr. Judith Grinblat for her help with the HRTEM, to Dr. Sophie Buchbut for her help with TEM imaging, to Shai Wissberg for the help with AFM imaging, and to Dr. Yossi Tal Yosef for help with SEM imaging.

FundersFunder number
FIRST Program of the Israel Science Foundation206923
Israel Science Foundation

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