Photoluminescent polymer/quantum dot composite nanoparticles

Core-shell CdS/SiO2 nanoparticles were prepared and modified with the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) initiator 3-(2-bromopropionyloxy)propyl dimethylethoxysilane (BIDS). The initiator-modified nanoparticles were then used as macroinitiators for the polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) catalyzed by NiBr2(PPh3)(2). These hybrid polymer/inorganic nanoparticles could be cast into films that retained the photoluminescence of the precursor CdS nanoparticles and showed even dispersal of the CdS/SiO2 cores throughout the PMMA matrix. These hybrid nanoparticles are versatile structures: their films can be processed from solution and show uniform dispersion of the inorganic phase throughout the host organic matrix on the microscopic level. These nanoparticles also have components whose structures and compositions can be altered to introduce new properties to the material (i.e., the luminescence of the inorganic core or the conductivity of the polymer arms) and to allow for self-assembly of the material (via the structure and composition of the polymer arms).