A facile synthesis of poly(3-octylthiophene)-titanium dioxide nanocomposite particles in supercritical CO2

Poly(3-octylthiophene) (P3OT)-titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanocomposite powder where TiO2 was embedded with homogeneous dispersion was synthesized by in-situ chemical oxidative polymerization of 3-octylthiophene in the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2), using ferric chloride as the oxidant. The synthesized materials could be obtained as dry powder upon venting of CO2 after the polymerization. The composites were subsequently characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction studies (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and photoluminescence (PL). The incorporation of TiO2 in the composite was endorsed by FT-IR studies. TGA revealed enhanced thermal stability of P3OT/TiO2 nanocomposite compared to 3-octylthiophene. TEM analysis showed that well dispersed TiO2 nanoparticles in the polymer matrix. Photoluminescence quenching increased with increasing TiO2 concentration in the composite.