Size‐Tunable Polymeric Nanoreactors for One‐Pot Synthesis and Encapsulation of Quantum Dots

Hydrophilic polymeric nanoparticles are synthesized through a Bergman cyclization‐ mediated intramolecular chain collapse of structurally well‐defined linear polymers, and then used as size‐tunable nanoreactors to fabricate and encapsulate quantum dots in a one‐pot reaction. Crystalline quantum dots are formed in all of these nanoreactors and visualized by transmission electron microscopy. Smaller nanoreactors produce one quantum dot each while larger nanoreactors form a number, resulting in fluorescence quenching. By controlling the molecular weight of the linear polymer precursor, a variable number of nanocrystals are fabricated and assembled in a single nanoreactor.