Self-catalytic synthesis of soluble polythiophene/tellurium nanocomposite and its nonlinear optical property

The combination of organic conducting polymer with inorganic semiconductor is one of the most important topics in developing photoelectric materials. In this work, bouquet-like polythiophene/tellurium (PTh/Te) nanocomposite was synthesized via the redox reaction of H2TeO3 and thiophene. The formation mechanism and effect factors of PTh/Te nanocomposite were discussed. It was found that the elemental Te formed in situ promoted the polymerization of thiophene, and the remainder H2TeO3 molecules adsorbed on the PTh chains made the nanocomposite soluble. The Z-scan test results show that the PTh/Te nanocomposite has a large two-photon absorption (TPA) cross-section and nonlinear optical (NLO) absorption coefficient.