Study on Fluorescence Characteristic of Quercetin–Nanoporous Anodic Aluminum Oxide Composites

Nanoporous Anodic Aluminum Oxide (AAO), its average diameters of porous were 50 nm, was obtained by two-step electrochemical anodization aluminum process. Highly ordered luminescence arrays formed by filling AAO nanopores with quercetin molecules has been studied by fluorescent spectroscopy in this work. AAO showed stronger adsorption capability of quercetin than Al³⁺-quercetin complex. The mechanism may be physical and chemical adsorption all together. Meanwhile, red shift of the maximum fluorescence peak of quercetin in AAO was observed. The molecular assemblies in the nanopore array are highly ordered and the fluorescence polarization dependence indicates a preferred molecular orientation along the pore axis. This maybe explains the mechanism of molecular luminescence depending on its environment.