Enhancing photoluminescence of conjugated nanoparticles through graft polymer architectures

Ashley E. Masucci; Masoud Ghasemi; Christian W. Pester; Enrique D. Gomez

doi:10.1039/D3MA00165B

Enhancing photoluminescence of conjugated nanoparticles through graft polymer architectures†

Ashley E. Masucci,^a Masoud Ghasemi,^a Christian W. Pester

*^abc and Enrique D. Gomez

*^abd

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* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
E-mail: pester@psu.edu, edg12@psu.edu

^b Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA

^c Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA

^d Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA

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.

This article is part of the themed collections: Popular Advances and Early Stage Investigator Honorees of the ACS Polymeric Materials Science & Engineering Division

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Enhancing photoluminescence of conjugated nanoparticles through graft polymer architectures†

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