Siloxane-based oligomer ligands of indium phosphide quantum dots for improving dispersion in a siloxane matrix

The ligands of indium phosphide (InP) quantum dots (QDs) were modified with siloxane-based oligomers in a two-step process to improve the dispersion of InP QDs in a siloxane-based matrix. Oleic acid ligands on InP QDs (InP-OA) were exchanged with 6-mercapto-1-hexanol. Then, the hydroxyl functional groups (–OH) of the ligands were induced to react with poly(dimethylsiloxane), diglycidyl ether terminated (PDMS-DGE) by a ring-opening reaction of epoxide. The chemical bonding between the hydroxyl groups and PDMS-DGE was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The synthesized InP QDs with PDMS-DGE ligands (InP-PDMS-DGE) were blended with acrylate-siloxane polymers to produce color conversion QD films. The photoluminescence (PL) intensity of the QD films with the InP-PDMS-DGE QDs was improved by 2.3 times compared with that of InP-OA QDs. The color conversion efficiency of the QD films was determined using a blue light-emitting diode (LED), and the QD film containing InP-PDMS-DGE QDs demonstrated a conversion efficiency of 21%, compared to a lower efficiency of 17% for a film containing InP-OA QDs. The stability of the InP-PDMS-DGE film was tested at 85°C with a relative humidity (RH) of 85%, demonstrating an improvement of 28% compared to that with an InP-OA film.