An Unconventional Route to Monodisperse and Intimately Contacted Semiconducting Organic–Inorganic Nanocomposites

Abstract

AbstractWe 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.