A robust synthetic routes to crafting conjugated polymer (CP) grafted semiconducting nanocrystal (NC) nanocomposites with the intimate contact between these two semiconducting constituents was introduced. The architecture of semiconducting nanocrystals (i.e., CdSe, and CdTe) was controlled by tuning the fraction of mobile bifunctional ligands, yielding azide functionalized CdSe nanorods, CdTe tetrapods, and CdSe tetrapods after conversion of bromide group into azide moiety. Subsequently, ethynyl end-functionalized poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) were grafted onto NC surfaces via catalyst-free click chemistry. The intimate contact between P3HT and semiconducting NCs rendered the effective dispersion of NCs in nanocomposites, and facilitated their efficient electronic interaction as can be confirmed by photoluminescence spectroscopy. The success of coupling reaction was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Furthermore, the effect of size and shape of semiconducting NCs and the types of functional ligands on the photovoltaic device performance was studied.

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No description available.

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Ferromagnetic cobalt nanoparticles (CoNPs) are of interest due to their inherent dipolar properties which enable one-dimensional (1-D) nanoparticle self-assembly. As their magnetic properties change drastically with their size, the ability to selectively synthesize monodisperse metallic nanoparticles of varying diameters remains a crucial challenge. Although there have been extensive studies performed on various metallic nanoparticles yielding superparamagnetic materials (such as Fe3O4, Fe2O3, Co metals), research concerning the synthesis of ferromagnetic materials has only recently resurged within the last 20 years.In this work, methods for the synthesis of ferromagnetic cobalt nanoparticles on multi-gram scales were investigated. A one-pot synthetic method which produced up to 4 grams of cobalt nanoparticles per reaction was developed, and it was also found that this reaction had a direct correlation with particle size and reaction temperature, allowing for the large-scale synthesis of polystyrene-coated cobalt nanoparticles of pre-selected diameters.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Sc.). / Written for the Dept. of Chemistry. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/07/30). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Sc.). / Written for the Dept. of Chemistry. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/07/30). Includes bibliographical references.