Chapter 7: Polymer–Quantum Dot Hybrid Materials

Quantum dots are nanometer-sized semiconductor crystals that exhibit distinct optical and electronic properties. These nanocrystals have been used in a variety of fields, including optoelectronics, sensing, energy conversion, and biomedicine. In many of these applications, polymers are used to coat the quantum dots to improve their solubility and stability while also decreasing their inherent toxicity, making them more environmentally and biologically compatible. Among the many remarkable properties of these polymer–quantum dot hybrids, their excellent absorption properties that are readily tunable make them good candidates as photothermal agents for targeted cancer cell therapy. In this chapter, we present different strategies for the synthesis of polymer–quantum dot hybrids, providing some examples for each approach. We also highlight how polymer–quantum dot hybrids are applied in photothermal therapy.