Coacervate microenvironments modulate fluorescent dye behaviour and Förster energy transfer dynamics

Abstract

Coacervates offer dynamic environments for molecular organization. Using complex coacervates of poly-l-lysine and anionic fluorophores, we show that the coacervate microenvironment modulates dye photophysical properties through competing effects: fluorescence enhancement via local enrichment and aggregation-induced quenching at higher loading, while enabling energy transfer. These insights establish coacervates as versatile templates for designing adaptive nanoscale photonic and energy-transfer materials.