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Colloid Polym Sci DOI 10.1007/s00396-012-2672-4

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION

Enhanced dispersion of CdSe/MEH-CN-PPV hybrid nanocomposites by in situ polymerization using AEM as photopolymerizable precursor
Yushin Park & Jaehong Park & Michael J. Therien & Adrienne D. Stiff-Roberts

Received: 30 January 2012 / Revised: 20 April 2012 / Accepted: 23 April 2012 # Springer-Verlag 2012

Abstract Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) can easily become aggregated when blended in a polymer matrix. Although several techniques have been reported to prepare dispersed CQDs in a polymer matrix, the novel approach of this work is to obtain well-dispersed CQDpolymer nanocomposites through the in situ photopolymerization of a third source, thereby broadening the material selection available for such nanocomposites. Therefore, dispersed CQDpolymer nanocomposites were prepared by the photopolymerization of 2-aminoethyl methacrylate hydrochloride (AEM) precursor in a blend of trioctyl phosphine oxidecapped CdSe CQDs and poly(2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-,dicyano-p-xylylidene-alt-2,5-dihexyoxy-p-xylylidene) (MEH-CN-PPV). The photopolymerization of AEM was developed for this work in order to prevent possible decomposition of CQDs induced by introducing metallic catalysts or heat and to eliminate the need for further functionalization of CQDs or polymers. The morphology of the
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00396-012-2672-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Y. Park : A. D. Stiff-Roberts (*) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA e-mail: adrienne.stiffroberts@duke.edu J. Park : M. J. Therien Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA J. Park Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

photopolymerized CdSe CQD/MEH-CN-PPV/AEM was corroborated by direct observation of the quantum dot dispersion in the resultant sphere-shaped structures via transmission electron microscopy. Photoluminescence quenching and shorter photoluminescence decay lifetime of the MEHCN-PPV in the photopolymerized nanocomposite were observed, indicating that the photopolymerized CdSe CQD/ MEH-CN-PPV/AEM nanocomposite has an enhanced energy transfer efficiency in comparison to typical aggregated CdSe quantum dot/MEH-CN-PPV nanocomposites as a result of better dispersion. Keywords Photopolymerization . Quantum dots . Nanocomposite . Dispersion . Energy transfer Abbreviations CQD Colloidal quantum dot AEM 2-aminoethyl methacrylate hydrochloride TOPO Trioctyl phosphine oxide MEH-CN- Poly(2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-,PPV dicyano-p-xylylidene-alt-2,5-dihexyoxy-pxylylidene) TEM Transmission electron microscopy FRET Frster resonance energy transfer PS Polystyrene PMMA Poly(methylmethacrylate) ATRP Atom transfer radical polymerization RAFT Reversible addition fragmentation chaintransfer PAEM PolyAEM PI Photoinitiator TRPL Time resolved photoluminescence