Tang Benzhong

Application of AIE-active molecules in biosensing

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) refers to a unique photophysical phenomenon observed for some specific fluorophores, which are faintly or non-emissive in solution but become highly emissive in solid and aggregated states. In the cases of fluorescent probes, AIE active molecules possess some unparallel advantages over their classical counterparts. On one hand, it allows more AIE active molecules to bind to the target analyte, without worrying about the aggregation-induced fluorescence quenching; thus favors fluorescence detection. On the other hand, the feature of drastic enhancement in fluorescence intensity associating with an aggregation event can be used as a method of quantitative detection. In this paper, a series of representative AIE molecules are demonstrated; their applications as biological probes in sensing of protein, DNA, G4, and chiral amines are highlighted; their working principles and features of these molecules are described. Finally, a brief outlook on the design of new AIE-active molecules and the application of AIE-molecules in relevant fields is forwarded.

Multifunctional aggregation-induced emissionmaterials for nondoped OLEDs

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have attracted considerable attention due to their potential applications in flat-panel displays and solid-state lighting. The active organic materials are very important for fabricating efficient OLEDs. However, many conventional luminescent materials often encounter severe emission quenching in the aggregated state. In addition, these luminescent materials generally can only function as light-emitting layers and require complicated OLED configurations, such as multilayer doped devices. These drawbacks undermine the electroluminescence efficiencies of OLEDs, and raise the manufacturing cost. Luminogens with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics can emit strongly in the aggregated state, which are ideal light-emitting materials for OLEDs without needing doping technique.

Hyperbranched polyarylenes from copolycyclotrimerization

High molecular weight hyperbranched polyarylenes were synthesized in high yields by one-pot copolycyclotrimerizations of 2,5-diethynylthiophene (1), 4,4′-biphenyldiyne (2) and 2,7-diethynylfluorenes (3) with 1-heptyne (4) and 1-dodecyne (5) using TaCl5·Ph4Sn catalysts in toluene. The structures and properties of the polymers were characterized and evaluated by IR, NMR, TGA, UV, fluorescence and optical limiting analyses. All the polymers possess high thermal stability and emit strong blue light upon UV irradiation, whose intensities are higher than that from poly(1-phenyl-1-octyne) (PPO), a well-known highly luminescent disubstituted polyacetylene. Little aggregation-induced red shift in the photoluminescence is observed in the thin films of the polymers.