Fluorescent liquid pyrene derivative-in-water microemulsions

A fluorescent liquid pyrene derivative with a high fluorescence quantum yield (65%) in the bulk state is reported. With this as the sole oil phase, stable luminescent oil-in-water microemulsions have been prepared. Increasing the loading of liquid pyrene swells the droplets, as detected by small-angle neutron scattering. These larger droplets have a greater proportion of pyrene excimer emission contribution in their photoluminescence spectra, which leads to a red shift in the chromaticity of the emission. Using a liquid pyrene derivative as the oil, stable oil-in-water microemuslions are prepared, with tunable fluorescence emission via droplet size.