Fabrication of highly transparent and luminescent quantum dot/polymer nanocomposite for light emitting diode using amphiphilic polymer-modified quantum dots

•CdSe@ZnS/ZnS core/shell QDs were encapsulated by an amphiphilic polymer.•QD/PDMS nanocomposite was fabricated by using encapsulated QDs as a crosslinker.•Nanocomposite with uniform QD dispersion could be obtained even at high QD loading.•Synthesized nanocomposite showed high transparency due to uniform QD dispersion.•LED with the synthesized nanocomposite exhibited excellent luminous efficacy. Herein we present the fabrication of a highly transparent and luminescent quantum dot (QD)/polymer nanocomposite for application in optoelectronic devices. First, we encapsulated CdSe@ZnS/ZnS core/shell QDs with an amphiphilic polymer, i.e., poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride) (PSMA). By encapsulating QDs with PSMA instead of ligand exchange, the photoluminescence intensity of the QDs could be preserved even after surface modification. Next, the PSMA-modified QDs were used as crosslinkers for the aminopropyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) resin in a ring-opening reaction between the maleic anhydride of the QDs and the diamines of the PDMS, producing polymer networks at a low curing temperature. This method afforded a nanocomposite with uniform dispersion of QDs even at high QD concentrations (~30 wt%) and superior optical properties compared to a nanocomposite prepared from unmodified QDs and commercial resin. Owing to these enhanced properties, the nanocomposite was used to fabricate a light emitting diode (LED) device, and the luminous efficacy was found to be highest at 1 wt%.