Novel ultraviolet-opaque, visible-transparent and light-emitting ZnO-QD/silicone composites with tunable luminescence colors

Multifunctional, ultraviolet (UV)-opaque, visible-transparent and light-emitting materials with tunable luminescence colors are highly desirable for many applications in areas of ultraviolet shielding, light-emitting diodes and optical lenses etc. In this work, ZnO quantum dots (ZnO-ODs) with various sizes are first synthesized using a simple sol–gel route and novel multifunctional ZnO-QD/silicone composites with tunable luminescence colors are then prepared via a simple direct mixing method by uniformly dispersing ZnO-QDs in the silicone matrix. The structure and morphology of the ZnO-QD/silicone composites are characterized using high resolution transmission electron microscopy and attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. UV–vis spectrometer and fluorescent photometer are used to study the optical properties of ZnO-QD/silicone composites. The results show that the ZnO-QD/silicone composites are opaque in the UV region, transparent in the visible region and also light-emitting with tunable luminescence colors from blue to yellow–green.