title: Fluorescence resonance energy transfer between phenanthrene and PAMAM dendrimers.
abstract: We describe herein an adsorption-induced energy transfer between phenanthrene, a major environmental pollutant, and a fluorescently labeled dendrimer acting as a host molecule. We find experimentally that such energy transfer is the most efficient at a solvent pH of 8 and for a phenanthrene:dendrimer molar ratio of 1:2. Using molecular dynamics simulations we show that the strongest binding interactions occur between phenanthrene and the primary amines of the dendrimer. The simulations provide evidence that at low pH, phenanthrene-phenanthrene interactions are favorable and compete with phenanthrene-dendrimer binding. This study offers a new scheme for detecting dendrimer molecular assembly and a physical basis for exploiting dendrimer nanotechnologies for water purification and environmental remediation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Lund University, Solvegatan 14, S-223 62, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mercy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lard
authors.forename: Seung Ha
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sijie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Priyanka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
authors.forename: Pu Chun
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.forename: Monica H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lamm