INVESTIGATION OF TRIPLET STATE AND SINGLET OXYGEN DYNAMICS OF BENZOPHENONE IN POLAR AND NONPOLAR SOLUTIONS WITH TIME-RESOLVED TWO-COLOR THERMAL LENSING METHOD

The heat generated by nonradiative decay dynamics induces thermal lens effect. From such an effect, photodynamic properties of solutions can be investigated with two-color pulsed thermal lens experiments which have the time resolution of down to nanoseconds. In this study, using nanosecond two-color thermal lens method, we investigated the triplet state of benzophenone and the singlet oxygen state dynamics in various oxygen concentration solvents. The measured triplet state lifetimes, singlet oxygen relaxation times and singlet oxygen formation quantum yields are in good agreement with the reference values. From these parameters the existence of the triplet exciplex formation between benzophenone and benzene is proved, and it is also suggested that the relaxations of triplet states of benzophenone undergo coupled dynamics with some of singlet oxygens in oxygen-rich conditions.