Collisional quenching of erythrosine B as a potential reference dye for impulse response function evaluation

Area of Science:

• Photochemistry
• Spectroscopy
• Biophysics

Background:

• Time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy requires reliable standards for accurate measurements.
• Existing standards often have limitations in providing ultrashort decay times.
• Fast-decaying fluorophores are crucial for advanced techniques like time-resolved microscopy and two-photon excitation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the collisional quenching of erythrosine B by potassium iodide.
• To evaluate quenched erythrosine B as a potential ultrashort lifetime standard.
• To demonstrate its utility in determining impulse response functions for fluorescence measurements.

Main Methods:

• Studying the collisional quenching of erythrosine B using potassium iodide as a quencher.
• Analyzing the fluorescence decay kinetics and quantum yield.
• Comparing the impulse response functions of quenched erythrosine B with elastic scattering.

Main Results:

• Collisional quenching of erythrosine B by potassium iodide follows Stern-Volmer kinetics.
• The lifetime of erythrosine B significantly decreases to 24 ps in 5.02 M potassium iodide.
• The quantum yield of quenched erythrosine B is 0.0035, with a brightness suitable for reference standards.
• Impulse response functions for detectors using quenched erythrosine B are comparable to elastic scattering.

Conclusions:

• Quenched erythrosine B serves as an effective ultrashort reference standard for time-resolved fluorescence.
• Its fast decay time and brightness are advantageous for various spectroscopic and imaging applications.
• This method provides a reliable way to obtain impulse response functions, improving measurement accuracy.