Issue 12, 2023

Enhancing photoluminescence of conjugated nanoparticles through graft polymer architectures

Abstract

Polymer nanoparticles are an emerging class of materials with potential impact in sensing, catalysis, imaging, cosmetics, and therapeutics. Here, a collection of graft polymers with conjugated polythiophene backbones were synthesized via a grafting-to approach. We functionalized polythiophene backbones with side chains of either poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), poly(ethylene oxide), or poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) via copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne click chemistry. The backbones, graft polymers and a linear poly(3-hexylthiophene) were fabricated into nanoparticles through precipitation in aqueous media. We measured the absorption and emission spectra of the polymers dissolved in chloroform and as nanoparticles suspended in water. Compared to linear P3HT, all graft polymer nanoparticles exhibit higher quantum yields. Moreover, the addition of PMMA side chains increased the quantum yield by more than two orders of magnitude. This versatile approach to conjugated graft copolymer synthesis demonstrates a route for enhancing photoluminescence of conjugated polymer nanoparticles that could be beneficial for a variety of applications, such as biosensing and bioimaging.

Graphical abstract: Enhancing photoluminescence of conjugated nanoparticles through graft polymer architectures

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
11 Apr 2023
Accepted
24 Mai 2023
First published
06 Jun 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Mater. Adv., 2023,4, 2586-2594

Enhancing photoluminescence of conjugated nanoparticles through graft polymer architectures

A. E. Masucci, M. Ghasemi, C. W. Pester and E. D. Gomez, Mater. Adv., 2023, 4, 2586 DOI: 10.1039/D3MA00165B

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