Preparation and performance of cadmium sulfide/sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) nanocomposite materials

We report a kind of cadmium sulfide (CdS)/sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) composite via in situ for the first time. It is a new type of nanocomposite possessing outstanding fluorescence property and thermostability. The SPEEK has the sulfonic radical side group and the degree of the sulfonation is 0.88. With the SPEEK dissolving in the N,N-dimethylformamide, cadmium acetate dihydrate (cadmium (Cd) source) was added to make the precursor for the reaction and then the thiourea (sulfur (S) source) was injected. We also investigated the effects of reaction time, the ratio of Cd/S, and the ratio of Cd/–SO₃H. The ultraviolet–visible and photoluminescence spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis were used to characterize the property of the nanocomposite. The high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) was used to characterize the morphological of the composite. As the reaction time increases, the photoluminescence intensity declined and the fluorescence peak redshifted. When the reaction time was 1 min, the ratio of Cd/S was 1:2 and the ratio of Cd/–SO₃H was 1:5, and the fluorescence properties of the nanocomposites were the best.