Polymers 2011, 3(3), 1352-1362; doi:10.3390/polym3031352
Article

Nanocomposites Based on Metal and Metal Sulfide Clusters Embedded in Polystyrene

Gianfranco Carotenuto 1,* email, Cinzia Giannini 2 email, Dritan Siliqi 2 email and Luigi Nicolais 1 email
1 Istituto per i Materiali Compositi e Biomedici, CNR, Piazzale V. Tecchio, Napoli 80-80125, Italy 2 Istituto di Cristallografia, CNR, Via G. Amendola, Bari 122/O-70126, Italy
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 9 July 2011 / Accepted: 10 August 2011 / Published: 22 August 2011
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer-Inorganic Hybrids and Their Applications)
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Abstract: Transition-metal alkane-thiolates (i.e., organic salts with formula Me(SR)x, where R is a linear aliphatic hydrocarbon group, –CnH2n+1) undergo a thermolysis reaction at moderately low temperatures (close to 200 °C), which produces metal atoms or metal sulfide species and an organic by-product, disulfide (RSSR) or thioether (RSR) molecules, respectively. Alkane-thiolates are non-polar chemical compounds that dissolve in most techno-polymers and the resulting solid solutions can be annealed to generate polymer-embedded metal or metal sulfide clusters. Here, the preparation of silver and gold clusters embedded into amorphous polystyrene by thermolysis of a dodecyl-thiolate precursor is described in detail. However, this chemical approach is quite universal and a large variety of polymer-embedded metals or metal sulfides could be similarly prepared.
Keywords: metal clusters; thiolates; nanocomposites; polymer; optical properties

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MDPI and ACS Style

Carotenuto, G.; Giannini, C.; Siliqi, D.; Nicolais, L. Nanocomposites Based on Metal and Metal Sulfide Clusters Embedded in Polystyrene. Polymers 2011, 3, 1352-1362.

AMA Style

Carotenuto G, Giannini C, Siliqi D, Nicolais L. Nanocomposites Based on Metal and Metal Sulfide Clusters Embedded in Polystyrene. Polymers. 2011; 3(3):1352-1362.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Carotenuto, Gianfranco; Giannini, Cinzia; Siliqi, Dritan; Nicolais, Luigi. 2011. "Nanocomposites Based on Metal and Metal Sulfide Clusters Embedded in Polystyrene." Polymers 3, no. 3: 1352-1362.

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