Versatility of the ionic assembling method to design highly luminescent PMMA nanocomposites containing [M₆Qⁱ₈L^a₆]ⁿ⁻octahedral nano-building blocks

Abstract

New luminescent poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) nanocomposites with high content of different hexanuclear octahedral cluster building blocks, namely [Mo6I8(C2F5COO6)](2-), [Re6Se8(CN)6](4-) and [W6Cl14](2-) have been prepared by free-radical polymerisation. To do so, cluster complexes bearing a polymerisable ammonium counter-cation have been synthesised. In this way, we demonstrate that ionic assembling is a powerful tool to functionalise easily any type of anionic cluster units to be introduced in a PMMA organic matrix. All samples remain homogeneous, stable during several months, and retain the luminescence properties of the cluster precursor.