CdTe/PEDOT-PSS hybrid microspheres: Facile fabrication and multiple-color pH-sensing

CdTe/PEDOT-PSS hybrid microspheres have been attained via the direct polymerization of EDOT-PSS on mercapopropionic acid capped CdTe quantum dot aggregates. The obtained hybrid microspheres provide multiple-color absorption and emission properties as a function of the pH value of the medium, which indicate the presence of both physical and electronic contact between the PEDOT and CdTe. The pH-dependent absorption and emission properties of the CdTe/PEDOT-PSS hybrid microspheres were relative to the doping-dedoping behavior of conducting PEDOT-PSS and insensitive to the morphology or distribution of the hybrid microspheres. This study gives a route for facile fabrication of semiconductor nanoparticle/conducting polymer microspheres applicable in optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices.