Photophysical properties of poly(triptycene vinylene) derivatives and effect of nitrotoluene exposure

The photophysical properties of two conjugated polymers containing triptycene group were studied. These systems are highly fluorescent and time-resolved fluorescent measurements show that there are different types of excited species whose relative population is correlated to a heterogeneous collection of chromophore sites. A fluorescence quenching is observed upon DNT exposure because of a dynamic electron transfer process from the polymer to the quencher. The reversibility of the quenching process has been demonstrated by a simple air flow method which allows the re-use of the sensor for cycling measurement of the nitroaromatic analyte.