Light emission properties and self-assembly of a tolane-based luminogen

Abstract

The self-assembly of π-conjugated molecules into low-dimensional luminescent nanomaterials has attracted much attention for their applications in optoelectronics and photonics. Herein, a new tolane derivative (1) containing donor and acceptor units has been designed and synthesized. The compound 1 shows the effect of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) due to the donor–acceptor interaction. In solution, it is weakly emissive, but becomes highly emissive upon aggregation, demonstrating the novel phenomenon of aggregation-induced emission (AIE). Moreover, through controlled self-assembly of 1, different micro/nanostructures (ribbons, rods and flower-like clusters) with high emission efficiency can be obtained, which paves the way for its photonic and electronic applications.