Investigation of role of silver nanoparticles on spectroscopic properties of biologically active coumarin dyes 4PTMBC and 1IPMBC

•The role of silver nanoparticles on biologically active coumarins is studied.•Fluorescence quenching is due to both collisional and static mechanisms.•Binding constant and the binding sites are estimated for static type of quenching.•The role of Forster type energy transfer has been suggested.•Electron transfer is also playing a role in overall quenching mechanism.

The role of silver nanoparticles on spectroscopic properties of biologically active coumarin dyes 4-p-tolyloxymethyl-benzo[h]coumarin (4PTMBC) and 1-(4-iodophenoxymethyl)-benzo[f]coumarin (1IPMBC) has been investigated using absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. Silver nanoparticles are synthesized by chemical reduction method and the estimated size by Mie theory is 12 nm. The absorption spectral changes of dyes in the presence of silver nanoparticles suggest their possible interaction with silver nanoparticles. The apparent association constants of the interaction are estimated using Benesi–Hildebrand model. Fluorescence quenching has been observed in both the dyes with the addition of silver nanoparticles. The Stern–Volmer plots of fluorescence quenching are found to be nonlinear showing positive deviation. The magnitudes of quenching rate parameter and fluorescence lifetime measurements indicate the presence of both collisional and static quenching mechanisms. The binding constants and the number of binding sites for the static type of quenching have been estimated from the fluorescence data. The role of diffusion, energy transfer and electron transfer processes in fluorescence quenching mechanism has been discussed.

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