Long-Lasting Chemiluminescence by Aggregation-Induced Emission
Surfactant with Ultralow Critical Micelle Concentration
Youkai Yu,1Zhiqin Yuan*,1 and Chao Lu*,1,2
1 Y. Yu, Dr. Z.
Yuan and Prof. Dr. C. Lu
State
Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Chemistry,
Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
E-mail: yuanzq@mail.buct.edu.cn (Z. Yuan), luchao@mail.buct.edu.cn (C.
Lu). Phone/Fax: +86 10 64411957.
2 Prof. Dr. C. Lu
Green Catalysis Center, and College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University,
Zhengzhou 450001, China
Keywords: long-lasting chemiluminescence, fluorescent surfactant,
aggregation-induced emission
The
development of green and simple chemiluminescence (CL) systems with
intensive and long-lasting emission is highly desirable in lighting and
extension of their applications. In this study, it is found that the
involvement of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) surfactant could
greatly enhance the CL of
luminol–H2O2–Co2+system. The inserted hydrophobic tetraphenylethylene fluorophore in AIE
is able to increase the hydrophobicity of alkyl chain and decrease the
critical micelle concentration (CMC) of surfactant. The synergistic
effect of micelle-improved enrichment and CL resonance energy transfer
endows
luminol–H2O2–Co2+system intensive and long-lasting emission under neutral pH conditions
(pH 7.4). The visible emission is still observed even after 60 min. Our
study has opened a new avenue for exploring green and simple effective
CL systems through AIE surfactant with unltralow CMC toward various
applications in lighting, optical sensing, and photocatalysis, etc.