Fluorescence Spectroscopy Studies on Micellization of Poloxamer 407 Solution

It has been reported that at low temperature region, poloxamers existed as a monomer. Upon warming, an equilibrium between unimers and micelles was established, and finally micelle aggregates were formed at higher temperature. In this study, the fluorescence spectroscopy was used to study the micelle formation of the poloxamer 407 in aqueous solution. The excitation and emission spectra of pyrene, a fluorescence probe, were measured as a function of the concentration of poloxamer 407 and temperature. A blue shift in the emission spectrum and a red shift in the excitation spectrum were observed as pyrene transferred from an aqueous to a hydrophobic micellar environment. From the $I_1/I_3 and I_{339}/I_{333}$ results, critical micelle concentration (cmc) and critical micelle temperature (cmt) were determined. Also, from the fluorescence spectra of the probe molecules such as 8-anilino-1-naphthalene sulfonic acid and 1-pyrenecarboxaldehyde, the blue shift of the $\lambda_{max}$ was observed. These results suggest a decrease in the polarity of the microenvironment around probe because of micelle formation. The poloxamer 407 above cmc strongly complexed with hydrophobic fluorescent probes and the binding constant of complex increased with increasing the hydrophobicity of the probe.