A novel strong AIE bi-component hydrogel as a multi-functional supramolecular fluorescent material

Abstract

Multi-functional supramolecular fluorescent materials are an intriguing concern for materials science. Herein, an easily prepared bi-component hydrogel with strong aggregation-induced emission (AIE) (MQ-G) was successfully constructed by the gelators naphthalimide derivative (M) and tri-(pyridine-4-yl)-functionalized trimesic amide (Q) in DMSO-H2O (6 : 4, v/v) via π−π, hydrogen bond and π−electron donor-acceptor interactions. The obtained bi-component hydrogel MQ-G has an excellent self-healing property. Interestingly, the MQ-G exhibits strong orange AIE, the fluorescence quantum yield of the MQ-G was measured as 0.578. Moreover, the MQ-G could successively sense Fe3+ and H2PO4− in water through a fluorescent “ON-OFF-ON” pathway, which suggests the MQ-G could serve as an “ON-OFF-ON” fluorescent material and efficient logic gate. Meanwhile, the xerogel of MQ-G is capable of removing Fe3+ at an adsorption rate of 99.74% in diluted aqueous solution. Moreover, the thin films based on the MQ-G and MQ-G + Fe3+ were also prepared, which could not only act as supramolecular fluorescent material but a simple and efficient tool for detection Fe3+ and H2PO4−, respectively.