In this study polymeric fluorescence quenchers were studied. The focus was on the quenching efficiency assessed with Stern-Volmer -plotting. Poly(4-vinylpyridine) and poly(nitrostyrene), poly(allylamine) and two other polymers were used as quenchers. Measurements with other than poly(nitrostyrene) were conducted in DMF. The measurements in aqueous solutions were conducted with different pH and with water and methanol as solvents for the pyrene. Using methanol as the solvent for pyrene made possible variation of pyrene concentration.
Poly(4-vinylpyridine) was found to be an excellent quencher of fluorescence in aqueous solutions at pH 3.5, as was also poly(nitrostyrene) in DMF solutions. The Stern-Volmer -plot showed linear dependency of intensity ratio to quencher concentration, whereas the other polymeric quenchers tested showed downwards curvature implying that perhaps the polymer conformation prevents the fluorophore quencher interactions. Also the quenching of fluorescence was found to be independent of pH.
