Cause of absorption band shift of disperse red-13 attached on silica spheres

A reversible color change and large absorption band shift have been observed for the disperse red-13 (DR-13) attached on the surface of the monodisperse silica spheres. Two step synthetic processes including urethane bond formation and hydrolysis-condensation reactions were used to attach the DR-13 on the surface of the silica spheres. After the reaction, the characteristic absorption peak at 2270 cm^-1 representing the –N=C=O asymmetric stretching vibration disappeared, and the a new absorption peak at 1700 cm^-1 corresponding the C=O stretching vibration appeared. A visual and reversible color change was observed before and after wetting in alcohol. Although the absorption peak of DR-13 in alcohol is at 510 nm, the absorption peak shifts to 788 nm when it is dried. The absorption peak shifts to 718 nm when it is wetted in alcohol. This result can be explained by the formation of intramolecular charge transfer band.