Synthesis of poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene-silica core-shell particles with a self-templating method and their fluorescent properties

Sub-micrometer particles with poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene (MEH-PPV) cores coated by silica-based shells were prepared with a self-templating method and their fluorescent properties were investigated in this paper. The characteristic of this method was that all reactions could be finished in one-pot, which exempted from removing the template and reduced reaction steps compared to the conventional process. Emission wavelength of the resultant core-shell particles can readily be tuned through chemical modification of MEH-PPV, which was carried out via regulating the conjugation length of the polymer. In addition, the size of MEH-PPV/SiO₂ core-shell particles could be controlled by altering reaction conditions. The obtained particles had clear core-shell structure and may be used as biolabeling materials. The morphologies, particle size distribution and fluorescent properties of MEH-PPV/SiO₂ particles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), particle size analyzer and fluorescence emission spectra, respectively.