Synthesis and properties of fluorescent hybrid nanocomposites based on copolyacrylates with dansyl semicarbazide units

Our study examined a series of hybrid composites containing copolyacrylate with semicarbazide-dansyl groups prepared by conventional radical polymerization of monomers in the organic montmorillonite modified with alkyl chains of variable length or using the sol–gel technique. The structure and the chemical composition of the copolymers N‐methacryloyloxyethylcarbamoyl-5-(dimethylaminonaphtalene-1-sulfonohydrazine)-co-methyl metahacrylate (DnsSA-co-MMA) and N‐methacryloyloxyethylcarbamoyl-5-(dimethylaminonaphtalene-1-sulfonohydrazine)-co-dodecylacrylamide (DnsSA-co-DA) as well as their nanocomposites (HC-P1, HC-P2, HC-P3, HC-P4) were confirmed by spectral analysis (1H NMR, FTIR, UV/vis), thermal methods and atomic force microscopy. To quantify the effect of the inorganic component compared to pure photopolymers we evaluated the properties of hybrid composites, including dielectric characterization. Additionally, these materials have been tested in experiments of fluorescence quenching by acids (HCl, p-toluenesulfonic acid, 1-S-camphorsulfonic acid), metallic cation (Cu2+) and nitrobenzene. The results suggest that such nanocomposites could find applications as fluorescence-based chemosensors in homogeneous organic solutions or thin films.