White light emission transparent polymer nanocomposites with novel poly(p-phenylene vinylene) derivatives and surface functionalized CdSe/ZnS NCs

•Novel conjugated/non-conjugated poly(p-phenylene vinylene) derivatives were synthesized.•An O-Substituted quinolinol modified CdSe/ZnS NCs and conjugated polymers were integrated into bulk polymer.•White light polymer nanocomposites were obtained by the trichromatic principle.•The nanocomposites have potential applications in fabricating optoelectronic devices.

A series of new polymers with conjugated poly(p-phenylene vinylene) units and non-conjugated poly(p-xylylene) units containing vinyl and carboxyl groups were synthesized. The monodisperse CdSe/ZnS nanocrystals with a red light emission were prepared by using the phosphine-free precursors. A novel fluorescent polymer and 5-(2-methacryloylethyloxymethyl)-8-quinolinol were dispersed in vinyl monomers containing CdSe/ZnS NCs to successfully fabricate transparent bulk nanocomposites by in situ polymerization. The 5-(2-methacryloylethyloxymethyl)-8-quinolinol molecules can be coordinated to the surface of CdSe/ZnS nanocrystals to form a metalloquinolate with green light emission at about 500 nm, while the red light emission of nanocrystals remained after the polymerization process. The efficient white light emitting polymer nanocomposites with color coordinates (0.32, 0.34) can be obtained when the weight ratio of nanocrystals to 5-(2-methacryloylethyloxymethyl)-8-quinolinol is 10:1. A charge transfer from the photoexcited metalloquinolates to the nanocrystals was observed in the system.

Graphical abstractThe novel poly(p-phenylene vinylene) derivatives, CdSe/ZnS NCs and functional ligand 5-(2-methacryloylethyloxymethyl)-8-quinolinol (defined as MQ) have been successfully integrated into the polymer matrix by in situ polymerization to fabricate a series of transparent bulk fluorescent nanocomposites without phase separation. The efficient white light emitting polymer nanocomposites with color coordinates (0.32, 0.34) can be obtained from the trichromatic superposition of different emission components.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide