Light-Responsive Behaviour of Fluorophores in Electrospun Nanofibres

Candidate: Reeda Mahmood
Supervisor: Dr. Bryan Koivisto

ABSTRACT

Polymeric electrospun nanofibres are 1D materials that have been used for a variety of applications including electronic devices, sensors, and photovoltaic devices. Electrospun nanofibres are unique in that hierarchical structures can be employed, additives can be embedded within the fibres, and a variety of polymers and polymer blends can be used. To that end, this thesis was interested in exploring the behaviour of light-responsive molecules in these fibres towards applications such as sensors and photovoltaic devices.

One light-responsive behaviour is FRET which employs fluorophores to transfer energy from a donor to an acceptor molecule. With the goal of utilizing FRET in nanofibres, Chapter Two studied the fluorescence behaviour of two commonly employed dyes, DAPI and BODIPY, in a variety of polymeric nanofibres. In particular, the fluorescence of these fluorophores in aromatic and non-aromatic polymers was compared. Building on  this, Chapter Three explored if FRET in a core@shell structure could be observed. In this structure, a donor molecule, BODIPY, was embedded in the core and an acceptor molecule, rhodamine-B, was in the shell.

Inspired by the FRET data, Chapter Four explored the development of nanofibre sensors that use FRET to detect in aqueous environments. This study also explored the role of fibre wettability on sensor performance. Finally, Chapter Five developed core@shell structures employing a conductive polymer, poly(ferrocenylsilane), as a hole transport material for the preparation of solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells.