Conjugated oligothiophene-dendron-capped CdSe nanoparticles: Synthesis and energy transfer

In this study, we demonstrate the synthesis of branched oligothiophene dendrons that act as electroactive surfactants for the capping of CdSe nanocrystals through a ligand exchange process. The number of dendrons per nanocrystal and the nature of surface coordination interactions were studied in detail using UV-vis, FT-IR, AFM, and photoluminescence spectroscopies. These dendron/nanocrystal complexes are very soluble in nonpolar solvents and exhibit photoinduced charge-transfer interactions between the two species. One-layer photovoltaic cells were fabricated that showed initial power conversion efficiencies of 0.29%.