FTIR Analysis of Preferential Solvation of Z907 Dye in Various Solvent Environments
When a material dissolves in a liquid, the solvent interacts with the molecules in that material to surround them and form a “solvation shell.” The properties and reactivity of the dissolved species can change due to the interactions with this shell. Preferential solvation is often observed when solvation occurs in a mixture with more than one solvent. In this experiment, infrared spectra were collected to better understand the molecular interactions between binary solvent mixtures and a solute. Z907 dye was dissolved in solutions with different molar ratios of acetonitrile and ethanol, and solutions of acetonitrile and deuterated ethanol. FTIR spectra were collected of each of the solvent mixtures both with and without dissolved Z907. The resulting spectra were then analyzed, and different fitting methods were employed to best interpret the changes in the spectra. The results indicate that the solvent environment may be more complicated than just a uniform shell around the molecule.