  A novel one pot process has been developed for the preparation of PbS
nanocrystals in the conjugated polymer poly 2-methoxy,5-(2
-ethyl-hexyloxy-p-phenylenevinylene) (MEH-PPV). Current techniques for making
such composite materials rely upon synthesizing the nanocrystals and conducting
polymer separately, and subsequently mixing them. This multi-step technique has
two serious drawbacks: templating surfactant must be removed before mixing, and
co-solvent incompatibility causes aggregation. In our method, we eliminate the
need for an initial surfactant by using the conducting polymer to terminate and
template nanocrystal growth. Additionally, the final product is soluble in a
single solvent. We present materials analysis which shows PbS nanocrystals can
be grown directly in a conducting polymer, the resulting composite is highly
ordered and nanocrystal size can be controlled.
