In this study the concentration quenching phenomenon is explored for seven organic singlet emitters (Rhodamine 6G, Pyridine 2, Lumogen F Red 305, Perylene, Coumarin 102, DCM and DCJTB) in an inert host of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). Combining fluorescence lifetime and quantum yield measurements on samples of different molecular separation allows a deep decay rate analysis to be performed yielding, for each fluorophore, a monomial power law that indicates the strength and type of interaction. The fluorophores studied exhibit interactions in between that of FRET-like dipole-dipole (R(-6)) and surface-surface (R(-2)) with many lying close to that expected for surface-dipole (R(-3)) interactions. With no observed dependence on molecular structure it is concluded that the concentration quenching rate in singlet emitters follows a power law as kCQ = aR(-3.1±0.7) with aggregation expected to increase the magnitude of the observed power.

Solid state solvation is employed to reduce self-absorption, a key loss mechanism in Luminescent Solar Concentrator (LSC) devices. For an example materials system consisting of poly(methylmethacrylate), Camphoric Acid Anhydride, and the laser dye 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-tert-butyl-6-(1,1,7,7,-tetramethyljulolidyl-9-enyl)-4H-pyran (DCJTB) a substantial shift in DCJTB emission energy of 832.2 cm−1 is observed whilst no decrease in fluorescence quantum yield occurs. When extrapolated to an LSC device a 16.1% relative improvement in efficiency is predicted with a potential for 23.1% when employing stronger dielectric additives. For a range of dicyanomethylene based fluorophores the predicted improvement in LSC efficiency is from 17.5% to 24.4%.