“Macromolecules – ghosts” in dynamic light scattering analysis: An approach to study interaction between CdSe quantum dots and RAFT-based poly(methyl methacrylate)

Poly (methyl methacrylate) samples with low dispersities and given molecular weights are synthesized via reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization using cyano-4-(phenylcarbonothioylthio)pentanoic acid and S-(2-cyano-2-propyl)-S-dodecyl trithiocarbonate. The reduction of the terminal thiocarbonylthio group in the polymer results in the production of two group of samples which contain either one (thiol or carboxylic) or two (carboxylic and thiol) terminal groups capable of interaction with CdSe quantum dots. An approach of the "macromolecules – ghosts" based on the isorefractivity of poly (methyl methacrylate) in toluene was used to study formation of the complexes between end-functionalized macromolecules and quantum dots. Correlation between end-functionality, molecular weight of the polymer and the size of the complexes is discovered.