SINGLET OXYGEN LIFETIME IN POLYMER-FILMS

Singlet oxygen lifetimes [tau(1O2)] in polymer matrices were calculated using the strong exponential correlation between the incremental rate constant (k(XY)) of energy transfer from 1O2 to terminal oscillators X-Y contained in solvent molecules and the energy (E(XY)) of the highest fundamental vibration of the oscillator X-Y. The lifetimes in polymers correspond very well to experimental data in the literature. They depend only on the nature and quantity of molecular oscillators in the medium but not on the state of aggregation. The computed lifetimes in common polymers vary only from 10 to 50-mu-s. Therefore the lifetime of 1O2 in singlet oxygen reactions in polymers is of secondary importance in comparison to the diffusion coefficient.