title: An unconventional route to monodisperse and intimately contacted semiconducting organic-inorganic nanocomposites.
abstract: We developed an unconventional route to produce uniform and intimately contacted semiconducting organic-inorganic nanocomposites for potential applications in thermoelectrics. By utilizing amphiphilic star-like PAA-b-PEDOT diblock copolymer as template, monodisperse PEDOT-functionalized lead telluride (PbTe) nanoparticles were crafted via the strong coordination interaction between PAA blocks of star-like PAA-b-PEDOT and the metal moieties of precursors (i.e., forming PEDOT-PbTe nanocomposites). As the inner PAA blocks are covalently connected to the outer PEDOT blocks, the PEDOT chains are intimately and permanently tethered on the PbTe nanoparticle surface, thereby affording a well-defined PEDOT/PbTe interface, which prevents the PbTe nanoparticles from aggregation, and more importantly promotes the long-term stability of PEDOT-PbTe nanocomposites. We envision that the template strategy is general and robust, and offers easy access to other conjugated polymer-inorganic semiconductor nanocomposites for use in a variety of applications.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005 (P. R. China); School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332 (USA).
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xinchang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Yanjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Jaehan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Haiping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Zhiqun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lin
keywords: PEDOT; lead telluride; organic-inorganic nanocomposites; polymer template; thermoelectrics