DIFFUSION-INFLUENCED DEACTIVATION PROCESSES IN THE STUDY OF SURFACTANT AGGREGATES

This review follows the evolution of the theories for excited state deactivation by diffusion-influenced quenching in microheterogeneous media, and the application of methods on this basis for the study of surfactant aggregates. From the starting point of the simple model for fluorescence quenching in monodisperse small micelles, the theoretical treatment has taken up polydisperse systems, quenching in long rods and lamellae, various possibilities for exchange of reactants between aggregates, and deactivation in clusters of small micelles. The information that can be obtained by time-resolved excited state deactivation studies is different in different types of systems, and is illustrated with examples from experimental studies. Limitations and possibilities are discussed.