Mobility of Phosphorescent Solutes in Polymethylmethacrylate
Nuclear magnetic resonance measurements upon polymerizing methyl methacrylate solutions show that a significant proportion of the solute molecules (naphthalene, phenanthrene) remain untrapped when the material becomes solid (60–30% residual unsaturation), complete rigid trapping of the solute occurring only as the unsaturation present is reduced to near zero.Phosphorescence measurements show increasing phosphorescence from solid polymethylmethacrylate containing phenanthrene as the residual unsaturation in the polymer is reduced from about 4% to zero, which is attributed to the gradual immobilization of an increasing fraction of the solute molecules as the unsaturation is reduced. Methyl isobutyrate reduces the phosphorescence from solutions of phenanthrene in polymethylmethacrylate at room temperature, but polymer solutions containing methyl isobutyrate and those containing residual unsaturation phosphoresce strongly at 77 °K.