Issue 8, 2019

Fluorescent thermometer based on a quinolinemalononitrile copolymer with aggregation-induced emission characteristics

Abstract

Fluorescent molecular thermometers are of great importance because of their potential biomedical applications. However, conventional fluorescent thermometers always face the serious problem of thermal-induced fluorescence quenching. Given that the fluorescence behavior of aggregation-induced emission luminogen (AIEgen)-containing polymers still needs improvement, here we report an AIEgen-grafted copolymer P(NIPAM-co-EM) with a thermo-responsive polymer poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM) as a matrix for constructing an AIE fluorescent thermometer. Considering the thermal and fluorescence behaviors, the aqueous copolymer exhibits a specific lower critical solution temperature (LCST) at about 30 °C, along with a fluorescence enhancement of 3.1-fold during the phase transition from 30 to 45 °C. Significantly, the temperature-dependent photophysical characteristic reveals that the fluorescence signal of P(NIPAM-co-EM) can be switched reversibly, thereby achieving the nondestructive sensing of temperature. The resulting copolymer P(NIPAM-co-EM) shows an interesting aggregation-induced enhanced emission (AIEE) activity, which is attributed to the grafted AIE-active unit of quinolinemalononitrile tangled with polymer chains. As demonstrated, the AIEgen-grafted copolymer can be potentially developed as a fluorescent thermometer through its AIEE mechanism.

Graphical abstract: Fluorescent thermometer based on a quinolinemalononitrile copolymer with aggregation-induced emission characteristics

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Research Article
Submitted
11 Marts 2019
Accepted
28 Marts 2019
First published
28 Marts 2019

Mater. Chem. Front., 2019,3, 1503-1509

Fluorescent thermometer based on a quinolinemalononitrile copolymer with aggregation-induced emission characteristics

J. Yang, K. Gu, C. Shi, M. Li, P. Zhao and W. Zhu, Mater. Chem. Front., 2019, 3, 1503 DOI: 10.1039/C9QM00147F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements