# Near-Infrared Emitting Fibers: Stable Jet Electrospinning Flat PbSe Quantum Dots into Poly(methyl methacrylate)

## TL;DR

Researchers created stable fibers with PbSe quantum dots that emit near-infrared light, suitable for fiber optic applications.

## Contribution

A method to embed flat PbSe quantum dots into PMMA fibers using jet electrospinning, enabling efficient NIR emission.

## Key findings

- PbSe flat quantum dots in PMMA fibers emit NIR light (860–1550 nm) with a quantum yield of 5% at 1073 nm.
- Jet electrospinning produces stable nanocomposite fibers with perpendicularly aligned PbSe quantum dots.
- Energy transfer in the quantum dots leads to bathochromically shifted photoluminescence.

## Abstract

Flat colloidal PbSe QDs (fQDs) represent an innovative
class of
2D near-infrared (NIR) photoluminescent QDs, which combine extreme
thickness with additional lateral confinement. PbSe fQDs exhibit efficient
NIR photoluminescence (860–1550 nm) that is adjustable to the
low-loss transmission windows of (optical) fibers and makes them highly
promising nanoemitters for fiber-based applications. Here, we demonstrate
the incorporation of PbSe fQDs into easy-to-handle functional and
stable jet electrospun poly­(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) fibers. Within
these electrospun nanocomposites, we find perpendicularly alignedstacks
of PbSe fQDs, which give rise to a narrowed and bathochromically shifted
photoluminescence (e.g., at 1073 nm, with a quantum yield of 5%) that
is caused by an energy transfer into the smallest band gap tail of
the PbSe fQD thickness distribution. Embedding PbSe fQDs into solid-state
nanocomposite fibers represents an important step forward for implementing
near-infrared (NIR)-emitting 2D PbX nanocrystals in fiber optics.