Organically modified siloxane glass films prepared via a non-aqueous gel coating process and doped with optically active dyes rhodamine 6G and coumarin 152

Abstract: A facile and non-aqueous gel coating process to obtain optically active dyes rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) and coumarin 152 (C152) doped in phenylsilsesquioxane–diphenylsiloxane hybrid glass films has been employed using a single-step dip-coating at room temperature. The polyphenylsiloxane hybrid matrix has the interesting property to be soluble in any organic solvent without phase segregation making possible the choice and incorporation of dyes without miscibility problems. The preparation of the coating sols simply by dissolving the preformed polyphenylsiloxane hybrid directly into anhydrous dye solutions presents the advantage to obtain easy coatings on any substrate or support. Homogeneous and transparent films with controllable thickness (from 1 to 17μm) can be loaded with high concentration of optically active organic dyes of interest. In addition, the non-aqueous process permits in the case of rhodamine 6G to limit the effect of the dye dimerisation or aggregation and to enhance the fluorescence of the dye. The results obtained owing to the properties of the polyphenylsiloxane hybrid matrix and the non-aqueous films'' preparation offer up tremendous possibilities not only for applications concerning the design of new optical and photonic materials but also for protective coating and biomaterials. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]