Optical, photo-physical properties and photostability of pyrromethene (PM-597) in ionic liquids as benign green-solvents

Laser dye pyrromethene-597 was dissolved with different concentrations in three types of ionic liquids (ILs): 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BMIM Cl), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrachloroaluminate (BMIM AlCl4) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoro-borate (BMIM BF4) in addition to ethanol as reference solvent. This paper investigates optical spectra and some photo-physical parameters of PM-597 in BMIM Cl, BMIM AlCl4, BMIM BF4 and ethanol. These parameters are absorption and emission cross sections, fluorescence lifetime and quantum yield. The amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) was studied using the second harmonic Nd-YAG laser of 532 nm. Also, the gain and energy conversion efficiencies were investigated. Relatively high efficiency was obtained with good photostability in case of PM-597 in BMIM BF4 that was a decrease to ~90% of the initial amplified spontaneous emission. This output energy was observed after pumping by 75,000 shots at a relatively high repetition rate of 10 Hz and pumping energy of 37 mJ. The composition and properties of the matrix of ILs were found to lead to optimize the laser performance and photostability of the investigated laser dye. In this study, we considered ionic liquids as the environmentally benign green solvents in place of volatile toxic organic solvents.