Enhanced and reproducible photogeneration of blue poly(pentacosadiacetylene) chemisorbed onto silver nanoparticles: An optimized synthetic protocol

Polydiacetylenes (PDAs) self-assembled onto silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) show superior performance relative to conventionally-structured PDAs because their unique optical properties are combined with the peculiar features of the nanosized noble metal cores. The present paper presents a study of the experimental factors influencing the photopolymerization of the carboxy-terminated 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (PCDA) monomer anchored to silver nanoparticles in an aqueous solution. Specific spectroscopic parameters have been identified that characterize the process both qualitatively and quantitatively, thus allowing the comparison of the polymerization yield carried out under different experimental conditions. On this basis, a well-defined synthetic protocol able to maximize the chromophoric potential of these novel optical transducers, as well as to give reproducible results, is proposed and tested on differently-stabilized and/or aged silver nanoparticles used as substrates for the PCDA chemisorption. The highly-conjugated blue polyPCDA has considerable potential in the optoelectronic, photovoltaic and sensing fields.