Direct Synthesis of P3HT/CdS Nanocomposites With End-functionalized P3HT as the Template

In this article, we report a direct synthetic route to prepare P3HT/CdS nanocomposites with cadmium acetate dihydrate (Cd(OOCCH3)(2)center dot 2H(2)O) used as the cadmium source, sulfur powder (S) as the sulfur source, dichlorobenzene (DCB) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as cosolvents, phosphonic ester end-functionalized P3HT as a conjugated polymer template. The as-prepared P3HT/CdS nanocomposites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (H-1 NMR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, transmission electron microscope (TEM), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The results showed that the size and distribution of CdS nanocrystals were not only temperature-dependent, but also greatly influenced by the S/Cd molar ratio. CdS nanocrystals were dispersed uniformly in the P3HT/CdS nanocomposites, which indicated that end-functionalized P3HT could be used as a template to prevent CdS from aggregating effectively. The occurrence of charge transfer at the P3HT/CdS interface was evident from UV-vis absorption and PL studies, which indicated that ionic bonding between CdS nanocrystals and phosphonic ester end-functionalized P3HT can promote the transfer of charge in P3HT/CdS nanocomposites. Therefore, it is a promising method to simplify the procedure for large-scale synthesis of organic-inorganic nanocomposites used in solar cells with high photoelectric conversion efficiency.