Size effect in optical spectra of nanostructured polysilanes

The nanostructured composites were fabricated by introducing the poly(di-n-hexylsilane) into mesoporous silica MCM-41 with a pore size of 2.8 nm, and optical spectra of this promising material were studied by two experimental methods: photoluminescence and FTIR spectroscopy. We focus herein on the interaction of the polymer with the internal pore surface of MCM-41 with different concentrations of Si-OH groups. It was shown that conformation change of the polymer chain, which is responsible for the observed peculiarities of optical spectra, occurs only for the polymer embedded into the mesoporous silica MCM-41 with high concentrations of Si-OH groups.