Optical limiters with improved performance based on nanoconjugates of thiol substituted phthalocyanine with CdSe quantum dots and Ag nanoparticles

Two alternative synthetic approaches affording a low-symmetry A3B-type phthalocyanine 1 bearing two [2′-(2′′-mercaptoethoxy)ethoxy] anchoring substituents were developed. Due to the presence of thiol groups, this phthalocyanine could be conjugated with TOPO-capped (TOPO - trioctylphosphine)-capped CdSe quantum dots (CdSe-QDs) or oleylamine capped silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs). The nonlinear optical behaviour of starting phthalocyanine, quantum dots, nanoparticles and their conjugates was studied by using an open aperture Z-scan technique, revealing that the grafting of 1 onto the nanomaterials resulted in a significant enhancement of the optical limiting of 1-Ag and 1-CdSe in comparison with the individual components. The conjugate 1-CdSe, being the first example of Pc-based thiol conjugated with quantum dots, revealed superior limiting characteristics with a limiting threshold below 0.18 J cm−2