Photoconductivity of novel poly(N-vinyl)-3-[p-nitrophenylazo]carbazole/CdS-nanoparticle polymer composite

The photoconductive characteristic of the inorganic/organic hybridized polymer system is reported, in which a novel bi-functional photorefractive (PR) poly(N-vinyl)-3-[p-nitrophenylazo]carbazole (PVNPAK) serves as a polymeric charge-transporting and second-order nonliner optical matrix and quantum dots composed of surface passivated cadmium sulfide serve as a charge-generation sensitizer. The hybrid PVNPAK/CdS-nanoparticles polymer composites with different mass ratio of CdS to PVNPAK were prepared. The generation of photocurrent on illumination and photoconductive properties of the PVNPAK/CdS-nanoparticles polymer composites were studied. The results show that the addition of CdS nanoparticle as a photosensitizer can enhance the photoconductivity of the PVNPAK significantly because of the properties of the high quantum efficiency of photosensitization and high charge transport to conducting polymer.