Aggregation-Induced Emission in Electrochemiluminescence: Advances and Perspectives

Abstract

The discovery of aggregation-induced electrochemiluminescence (AIECL) in 2017 opened new research paths in the quest for novel, more efficient emitters and platforms for biological and environmental sensing applications. The great abundance of fluorophores presenting aggregation-induced emission in aqueous media renders AIECL a potentially powerful tool for future diagnostics. In the short time following this discovery, many scientists have found the phenomenon interesting, with research findings contributing to advances in the comprehension of the processes involved and in attempts to design new sensing platforms. Herein, we explore these advances and reflect on the future directions to take for the development of sensing devices based on AIECL. Graphic abstract

Research Progress of Aggregation-Caused Quenching (ACQ) to Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) Transformation Based on Organic Small Molecules

“…唐本忠课 题组 [107] 当然, 以邻羟基苯甲醛为原料, 其与氨基杂环的缩 合反应也能构建邻羟基苯亚胺型 ESIPT 类 AIEgen [108] , 在光激发下, 邻羟基苯甲酮(醛)衍生物羟基上的质 子 H 也能转移到羰基 O 上, 构建具有 ESIPT 和 AIE 效 应的分子 [110][111] . 赵娜课题组 [112] 传感 [113] 、生物成像 [114] 和光电材料 [115] 等领域, 使近年来 出现了丰富的 ACQ 向 AIE 的转换策略, 如引入 TPE 基 团、TPA 基团和氰基乙烯基团等, 以及利用同分异构和 ESIPT 机理构建. 但从所报道分子中 AIE 的根源归纳, 构建新型 AIEgen 主要可分为两大类, 即基于原有 TPE 基团的修补性设计 [116] 和基于 RIM 机理的零起点设 计 [117] .…”

Highly Efficient Aggregation-Induced Enhanced Electrochemiluminescence of Cyanophenyl-Functionalized Tetraphenylethene and Its Application in Biothiols Analysis

“…Organic nanoparticles, a type of nanoparticle, are attracting increasing interest in the ECL field because of their unique ECL properties and diverse use of molecular precursors. , A lot of organic nanoparticles have been reported as ECL luminophores, including conventional organic nanoparticles, such as 9,10-diphenylanthracene nanorods and rubrene nanoparticles and aggregation-induced ECL (AIECL) or aggregation-induced enhanced ECL (AIE-ECL) nanomaterials, such as tetraphenylethene (TPE) and TPE derivatives, − D–A molecules, , or polymer dots. − Although conventional organic nanoparticles can generate ECL signals, certain challenges, such as solid emission quenching and low ECL efficiency, limit their analytical applications. For organic nanoparticles with AIECL or AIE-ECL, the ECL efficiency has been improved compared with that of conventional organic nanoparticles . Our group has reported the AIE-ECL from donor–acceptor-based coumarin derivatives via a coreactant pathway using TPA and S 2 O 8 2– as coreactant and applied the AIE-ECL for the detection of ascorbic acid, uric acid, and dopamine .…”

“…For organic nanoparticles with AIECL or AIE-ECL, the ECL efficiency has been improved compared with that of conventional organic nanoparticles. 24 Our group has reported the AIE-ECL from donor−acceptor-based coumarin derivatives via a coreactant pathway using TPA and S 2 O 8 2− as coreactant and applied the AIE-ECL for the detection of ascorbic acid, uric acid, and dopamine. 19 Although good ECL performance has been obtained from reported ECL luminophores, the ECL efficiency and stability are still limited in an aqueous solution.…”

Luminescence color change of [3,4-difluoro-2,6-bis(5-methyl-2-pyridyl)phenyl-κ3N,C1,N′]cyanidoplatinum(ii) by aggregation

“…Although many organic AIE compounds have been developed by excellent molecular designs for environment sensing as well as biosensing, transition metal complexes still seem to be rather limited. 10–13…”