Interaction studies between europium and a surfactant cage “TAC8” by time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence Original Research Article

Time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence (TRLIF) has been used for interaction studies between europium(III) used as a fluorescent probe and a new micellar system (TAC8) of a “diblock” surfactant–cage molecule containing a cage (cyclam) as a complexation part linked to a sugar-based surfactant part. The effect of each constituent (cage and surfactant unit) as well the complete molecule on the europium fluorescence have been studied. By using the hypersensitive transition of europium, it was shown that the separate constituents, e.g. cyclam and surfactant, had little effect. On the other hand, the complexation constant between europium and TAC8 was close to 102 demonstrating that a synergetic effect is achieved with such a diblock surfactant–cage molecule.