Water-Oil Interface Directed Self-Assembly of Graphene-g-PGMA/CdTe Nanocomposites

We propose a water-oil liquid-liquid interfacial self-assembly strategy for the composites of graphene and quantum dots in different phases under mild conditions. Driven by interfacial forces and electrostatic attraction, CdTe quantum dots (QDs) are uniformly immobilized into poly(glycidyl methacrylate) grafted reduced graphene oxide (rGO-g-PGMA) nanosheets at the H2O/CHCl3 interface through covalent bonding. The interfacial assembly process and corresponding changes of structures and optical properties have been systematically confirmed. The prepared rGO-g-PGMA/CdTe (G/CdTe) nanocomposites exhibit a layered architecture where QDs were well preserved and distributed without aggregation, and G/CdTe-sensitized solar cells show enhanced optoelectronic properties. This interface-directed synthetic strategy offers a feasible route to assembly of quantum dots or nanoparticles and graphene in different phases by the solution-processing technique.