Photoluminescent and transparent Nylon-6 nanofiber mat composited by CdSe@ZnS quantum dots and poly (methyl methacrylate)

In this work, a photoluminescent (PL) and transparent nanocomposite mat was demonstrated based on Nylon-6 (PA-6) nanofibers (NFs) mat, core-shell CdSe@ZnS quantum dots (QD) and Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) polymeric solution. Green and red emissive CdSe@ZnS QD was synthesized by one step approach, involving chemical composition gradient technique using standard schlenk line. Dip coating method was adopted to decorate PA-6 NFs mat with CdSe@ZnS QD and PMMA thin layer in sequence to introduce PL properties and optical transparency, respectively in the nanocomposite mat. The morphology of NFs, existence of QD in the nanocomposite, and optical characteristics such as PL and visible light transmittance of the nanocomposite were examined by various physio-chemical techniques. The dried PA-6/CdSe@ZnS/PMMA nanocomposite mats exhibited light transparency in daylight condition as well as emission of green and red color similar to the individual PL of green and red emitting CdSe@ZnS QD when they were excited under UV light or in a spectrofluorimeter. The results indicated the well preserved quantum confinement properties of the prepared QD in the mat. The fabricated mat found to be demonstrated transparency over 50% in the visible wavelength range of 400-800 nm. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.