Fluorescence and absorption spectra of Rose-Bengal dye in the presence of surfactants

The fluorescence and absorption spectra of Rose Bengal dye in aqueous solution have been studied in the presence of various nonionic, anionic and cationic surfactants. With cationic and nonionic surfactants, shifts occur in the absorption and emission peaks of the dye solution, with a large enhancement in the absorption and fluorescence intensity at the shifted λ_max. No appreciable change in the absorption and fluorescence spectra of the dye has been observed on the addition of anionic surfactants.All the changes observed in the absorption and fluorescence spectra of the dye solution with surfactants may be attributed, to binding of the surfactant with dye molecules and the disaggregation of the dye multimer forms into the monomeric form.