Excited state proton transfer of carbazole in aqueous micelles in the presence of urea: expulsion of the probe from the micellar environment

Abstract

Steady state as well as time-resolved decay analysis techniques have been adopted to study the excited state proton transfer (ESPT) reaction of carbazole (CAZL) in three aqueous micellar solutions, namely, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and triton X-100 (TX) in the absence as well as in the presence of urea. For all the micellar systems studied, multiple critical micellar concentrations (CMCs) have been observed. Urea is found to inhibit the micellisation process. Light has been thrown on the mode of action of urea. It has also been shown that urea expels the fluorophore molecule from the micellar periphery to the bulk aqueous phase.