Formation and control of excimer of a coumarin derivative in Langmuir–Blodgett films

In this communication we report the formation and control of excimer of a coumerin derivative 7-Hydroxy-N-Octadecyl Coumarin-3-Carboxamide (7HNO3C) assembled onto Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films. Surface pressure–area per molecule isotherm revealed that 7HNO3C formed stable Langmuir monolayer at the air–water interface. Spectroscoipic characterizations confirmed the formation of excimer of 7HNO3C in the LB film prepared at 20 mN/m surface pressure. The excimer band remains present even when 7HNO3C molecules are diluted with a long chain fatty acid stearic acid in LB films. The excimer formation of 7HNO3C can be controlled by incorporating clay particle laponite in the LB film. The excimer band is totally absent in the hybrid 7HNO3C–laponite LB films. In-situ fluorescence imaging microscopy and atomic force microscopy confirmed the incorporation of clay laponite onto LB films.