Conjugated coordination polymers based on 8-hydroxyquinoline ligands: impact of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes on solubility and luminescence

A novel bis(8-hydroxyquinoline) zinc-based conjugated coordination polymer with polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSSs) in the side chains has been synthesized. In contrast to the traditional coordination polymers, this new coordination polymer has good solubility in common organic solvents and can be characterized and processed in solution. The thermal stability of the polymer is also enhanced by POSSs and the fluorescence is not quenched by intermolecular aggregation in the solid state. This fluorescence enhancement is due to the significant effect of the bulky POSS units. Nanoparticles is obtained by a facile self-assembly method of the polymer materials and the nanoparticles show strong fluorescence at 545 nm.