An amphiphilic approach to nanocrystal quantum dot-titania nanocomposites.

The addition of octylamine-modified poly(acrylic acid) to nanocrystal quantum dots (NQDs) results in robust, alcohol-soluble nanoparticles that can be readily incorporated into titania matrices without large changes in photoluminescence quantum yields. This approach relies on the amphiphilic nature of the polymer to create an NQD-polymer complex in which the alkyl chains interact with the hydrophobic part of the NQD, leaving the polar carboxylic acid groups on the periphery. This procedure is applicable to hydrophobically capped NQDs of a variety of shapes and compositions, making it a truly generalized route to nanocrystal-titania nanocomposites.