One-pot synthesis of P3HT-CdE (E=S, Se, Te) nanocomposites using conjugated polymer-grafted precursors

A simple one-pot synthetic strategy toward crafting semiconductor organic-inorganic nanocomposites composed of conjugated polymer poly(3-hexylthiphene) (P3HT) in close contact with CdE (E=S, Se, and Te) nanocrystals was introduced. Bifunctional ligand 4-azidobenzoic acid (BA-N₃) that possesses two end functionalities at each end was employed, enabling the coordination of BA-N₃ with Cd first to yield Cd-carboxylic acid complexes (Cd-BA-N₃) followed by the subsequent click reaction between Cd-BA-N₃ and ethynyl-terminated P3HT (P3HT-≡) to produce P3HT-grafted Cd complexes (Cd-BA-P3HT). Finally, injection of precursors resulted in P3HT-tethered CdE NC (E=S, Se, and Te) nanocomposites. The success of click reaction was confirmed by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy measurements. The photophysical properties such as charge transfer characteristics were corroborated with absorbance and photoluminescence characterization. Notably, this strategy circumvents the use of insulating fatty ligands, thus dispensing the need for tedious ligand exchange procedure.