Immobilization of TiO₂ nanoparticles on carbon nanocapsules for photovoltaic applications

In this work, TiO₂ nanoparticles were immobilized on the carbon nanocapsules (CNC) treated by H₂SO₄/KMnO₄ using a sol-gel process. The TEM images of the TiO₂-coated CNC suggested that introducing crystallographic defects by acid functional groups tended to facilitate TiO₂ immobilization onto the nanocapsules. The TiO₂-coated CNC exhibited effective quenching on the emission of a light-emitting conjugated polymer, poly(2-phenyl-3-phenyl-4-(3′,7′-dimethyloctyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene) (DPO-PPV). Consequently, the composites of the TiO₂-coated CNC and conjugated semiconducting polymers have potentials for photovoltaic applications.