Facile encapsulation of SiO2 on ZnO quantum dots and its application in waterborne UV-shielding polymer coatings

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This paper presents a facile method for encapsulation of a SiO2 layer on the surfaces of ZnO quantum dots (ZnO QDs) to fabricate ZnO QD@SiO2 nanoparticles. Coating of a SiO2 layer can effectively improve the dispersion of ZnO QDs in an aqueous phase, insulate the photocatalytic activity of ZnO QDs and increase the photoluminescent quantum yield. When the as-obtained ZnO QD@SiO2 nanoparticles were introduced into acrylic latex, highly transparent, excellent UV-shielding and durable waterborne polymer coatings were easily fabricated. Moreover, the polymer coatings can convert UV into blue light effectively, which is beneficial for their application as agricultural films.