Nanocomposites based on highly luminescent nanocrystals and semiconducting conjugated polymer for inkjet printing

In this work nanocomposites based on organic-capped semiconductor nanocrystals formed of a core of CdSe coated with a shell of ZnS (CdSe@ZnS), with different sizes, and a semiconducting conjugated polymer, namely poly[(9,9-dihexylfluoren-2,7-diyl)-alt- (2,5-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene)] (PF-DMB) have been investigated. The nanocomposites are prepared by mixing the pre-synthesized components in organic solvents, thereby assisting the dispersion of the organic-coated nano-objects in the polymer host. UV-vis steady state and time-resolved spectroscopy along with (photo)electrochemical techniques have been performed to characterize the obtained materials. The study shows that the embedded nanocrystals increase the PF-DMB stability against oxidation and, at the same time, extend the light harvesting capability to the visible spectral region, thus resulting in detectable photocurrent signals. The nanocomposites have been dispensed by means of a piezo-actuated inkjet system. Such inks present viscosity and surface tension properties well suited for stable and reliable drop-on-demand printing using an inkjet printer. The fabrication of arrays of single-color pixels made of the nanocomposites and micrometers in size has been performed. Confocal and atomic force microscopy have confirmed that inkjet-printed microstructures present the intrinsic emission properties of both the embedded nanocrystals and PF-DMB, resulting in a combined luminescence. Finally, the morphology of the printed pixels is influenced by the embedded nanofillers.

Interplay between amplified spontaneous emission, Forster resonant energy transfer, and self-absorption in hybrid poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene)-CdSe/ZnS nanocrystal thin films

We investigated the excitation density dependence of the photoluminescence spectra of hybrid poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene)-CdSe/ZnS nanocrystals (PF8-NCs) thin films. We demonstrate that this experiment allows the determination of the efficiency of all the CdSe/ZnS NCs excitation processes and that the presence of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) from the PF8 leads to a strong dependence of the NC excitation processes from the laser excitation density. Below the PF8 ASE threshold only about 6% of the excitons in the NCs are due to pump laser absorption, while about 94% of the NC excitation is due to the interaction with the PF8, and it is due for about 58% to PF8-->NC Forster resonant energy transfer (FRET) and for about 37% to reabsorption by the NCs of the PF8 luminescence. The presence of PF8 ASE significantly modifies this scenario by strongly decreasing the FRET importance and strongly increasing the reabsorption one. The interplay between reduced FRET and increased reabsorption overall decreases the NC excitation due to PF8 indicating that ASE from the donors should be avoided if efficient NCs excitation under strong pumping is wished.