Visible light-emitting and temperature-sensitive copolymer gel/ZnO nanocomposites loaded with surface-modified ZnO nanoparticles having polyethylene glycol chains

New visible light-emitting and temperature-sensitive poly(VCL-co-SA)/ZnO gel nanocompsites (GNs) 4 loaded with surface-modified ZnO nanoparticles NPs 3 with polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains were successfully prepared by the cross-linking of N-vinylcaprolactam (VCL), sodium acrylate (SA) and tetraethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDM) in the presence of NPs 3. The NPs 3 having nanostructured size were prepared from ZnO NPs 2 with 2-bromo-2-methylpropionyl linkages on the surface, and sodium alcoholate of polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether (PEGME). The NPs 3 and the GNs 4 were characterized by FTIR, UV–vis absorption and photoluminescent (PL) spectroscopies, X-ray analysis measurements, TEM and SEM observations and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements. The measurements indicated that the GNs 4 with wurtzite crystal structures based on the ZnO NPs show absorptions and yellow light-emitting properties arising from the NPs 3, except for the GNs 4 containing a high weight % of NPs 3. The size of the GNs 4 drastically decreased with increasing temperature in the range of 20–35 °C, probably because of the induction of steric hindrance and enhancement of hydrophilic PEG chain concentrations inside the GN networks 4.

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► Surface-modified ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) with polyethylene glycol chains were prepared.
► The ZnO NPs with wurtzite crystal structures emitted yellow light.
► Poly(VCL-co-SA)/ZnO gel nanocomposites (GNs) including the ZnO NPs were prepared by crosslinking.
► The GNs showed UV–vis absorption and yellow light-emitting properties based on the ZnO NPs.
► The size of GNs depended on temperatures and drastically decreased in the range of 20–35 °C.