Effects of commercial non-ionic alkyl oxyethylene and ionic biocompatible arginine-based surfactants on the photophysical behaviour of several poly(fluorene-1,4-phenylene)s

Three different biocompatible surfactants were used: a single chain one, Nα-lauroyl-l-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (LAM), a gemini compound, Nα,Nω-bis(Nαlauroylarginine) α, ω-dibutylamide dihydrochloride, (C4(LA)2) and an amino acid glyceride conjugate, 1-O-(l-arginyl)-2,3-O-di-lauroyl-sn-glycerol dichlorhydrate (1212R). In addition, the interaction of the same polymers with three commonly used commercial non-ionic surfactants: n-dodecyl pentaoxyethylene glycol ether (C12E5), 4-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)phenyl-polyethylene glycol (Triton X-100) and polyethylene glycol sorbitan monolaurate (Tween 20) was also studied. Electronic spectroscopy (absorption and steady-state emission) as well as molecular dynamics using the Gromacs package (for the interaction between HTMA-PFP and Triton X-100) and ionic conductivity measurements on HTMA-PFP/C12E5 are also reported.