UV-Visible Light-Induced Luminescence Processes in Non-Aromatic Amino Acids Solution at Room Temperature

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Abstract

We demonstrate for the first time that aqueous solutions of non-aromatic amino acids such as L-arginine hydrochloride, L-lysine hydrochloride and glycine can simultaneously emit fluorescence and afterglow upon excitation with UV-visible light at room temperature. The luminescence afterglow differs from conventional fluorescence by its weak intensity and long emission duration. The presence of short-lived and long-lived fluorescence in non-traditional luminophores indicates a dual nature of fluorescence and the existence of excited states of different natures. The detected correlation in the shape of short-lived and long-lived fluorescence spectra suggests that the luminescence afterglow corresponds to thermally activated delayed fluorescence arising through the mechanism of reconversion from the lowest triplet state T1 to the lowest singlet state S1. Further studies will help to shed light on the understanding of the biophysics of photoinduced processes in biological systems.

About the authors

E. L Terpugov

Institute of Cell Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences

Pushchino, Russia

S. N Udaltsov

Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences

Pushchino, Russia

O. V Degtyareva

Institute of Cell Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: olga_degt@mail.ru
Pushchino, Russia

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