Construction of dendrimer-induced quantum dots loaded colloids towards fluorescent photonic crystal patterns via direct writing

A facile strategy is developed to construct fluorescent photonic crystals (PCs) patterns composed of hybrid microspheres by direct writing. These microspheres are fabricated by grafting fluorescent Cu-In-S/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) on the surface of SiO2 microspheres by using generation 3 polyamindoamine (G3 PAMAM) dendrimers as bridges. In virtue of the strong interaction of dendrimers with QDs and SiO2 microspheres through amidation reaction, the hybrid microspheres exhibit remarkable structural stability and fluorescent stability. Accordingly, the as-prepared PCs patterns display stable structural color and fluorescence. This work brings a unique viewpoint in patterned photonic crystal, which are highly versatile for information storage and anti-counterfeiting applications.