Thermodynamically Stable Dispersions of Quantum Dots in a Nematic Liquid Crystal

• Published in: Langmuir Vol. 29; no. 30; pp. 9301 - 9309
• Main Authors: Prodanov, Maksym F, Pogorelova, Nataliya V, Kryshtal, Alexander P, Klymchenko, Andrey S, Mely, Yves, Semynozhenko, Vladimir P, Krivoshey, Alexander I, Reznikov, Yurii A, Yarmolenko, Sergey N, Goodby, John W, Vashchenko, Valerii V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 30.07.2013
• Subjects: Biphenyl Compounds - chemistry; Cadmium Compounds - chemistry; Chemistry; Colloidal state and disperse state; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; Life Sciences; Liquid Crystals - chemistry; Nitriles - chemistry; Physical and chemical studies. Granulometry. Electrokinetic phenomena; Quantum Dots; Selenium Compounds - chemistry; Sulfides - chemistry; Thermodynamics; Zinc Compounds - chemistry; Correlation; Quantum dot; Transition element compounds; Fluorescence; Distortion; Minimization; Surfactant; Electron microscopy; Liquid crystals; Transmittance; Colloid; Dispersion; Zinc sulfide; Optical microscopy; Nematic state; Ordering; Cadmium Selenides
• ISSN: 0743-7463; 1520-5827
• DOI: 10.1021/la401475b

Using transmittance electron microscopy, fluorescence and polarizing optical microscopy, optical spectroscopy, and fluorescent correlation spectroscopy, it was shown that CdSe/ZnS quantum dots coated with a specifically designed surfactant were readily dispersed in nematic liquid crystal (LC) to form stable colloids. The mixture of an alkyl phosphonate and a dendritic surfactant, where the constituent molecules contain promesogenic units, enabled the formation of thermodynamically stable colloids that were stable for at least 1 year. Stable colloids are formed due to minimization of the distortion of the LC ordering around the quantum dots.