The discovery of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) phenomenon
in 2001 has had a significant impact on materials development across
different research disciplines. AIE-active materials have been widely
exploited for various applications in optoelectronics, sensing, biomedical,
and stimuli-responsive systems, etc. This is made possible by integrating
AIE features with other fields of science and engineering, such as
nanoscience and nanotechnology. AIE has been extensively employed,
particularly for biomedical applications, such as biosensing, bioimaging,
and theranostics. However, development of AIE-based nanotechnology
for other applications is comparatively less, although there have
been increasing research activities in recent years. Given the significance
and potential of the marriage between AIE hallmark and nanotechnology
in AIE-active materials development, this review article summarizes
and showcases the latest research efforts in AIE-based nanomaterials,
including nanomaterials synthesis and their nonbiomedical applications,
such as sensing, optoelectronics, functional coatings, and stimuli-responsive
systems. A perspective on the outlook of AIE-based nanostructured
materials and relevant nanotechnology for nonbiomedical applications
will be provided, giving an insight into how to design AIE-active
nanostructures as well as their applications beyond the biomedical
domain.