1 + 1 >> 2: Dramatically Enhancing the Emission Efficiency of TPE‐Based AIEgens but Keeping their Emission Color through Tailored Alkyl Linkages

Abstract

AbstractCurrently, the development of aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) luminogens (AIEgens) has enabled us to “see” never before seen scenery. However, not all AIEgens exhibit the impressive emission efficiency in aggregated states. Moreover, the emission color of AIEgens can be seriously affected when their performance is improved. Therefore, to overcome this limitation, an efficient method is proposed here through the tailored alkyl linkages to greatly improve the emission efficiency of tetraphenylethene (TPE)‐based AIEgens but retain their emission color. Encouragingly, significantly enhanced emission efficiency is achieved with the quantum yield up to 68.19% and 65.20% for BTPE‐C4 and BTPE‐C8, respectively, in contrast to that of TPE (25.32%), demonstrating the proverb that one plus one is much larger than two (1 + 1 >> 2). Interestingly, when alkyl linkages in skeletons are fine‐tuned, self‐assembled nanorods, nanosheets, and nanofibers are successfully achieved for BTPE‐C1, BTPE‐C4, and BTPE‐C8 in tetrahydrofuran and water system. Also, these developed emissive AIEgens not only exhibit impressive response to the environmental stimuli of mechanical force, viscosity, temperature, and light, but can also be used to dynamically monitor and control the phase‐separated morphology in polymeric blends.