Charge trapping and electroluminescence at quantum dots embedded in a polymer matrix

► Different mechanisms of EL and PL at CdSe/ZnS QDs embedded in a polymer matrix. ► Simultaneous EL and μeff measurements with varying temperature and QDs concentration. ► EL increases exponentially whereas PL increases linearly with increasing QDs. ► QDs act as giant charge trapping centers. ► Phenomenological model of carrier capture at QDs is proposed.