Long-Lasting Chemiluminescence by Aggregation-Induced Emission
Surfactant with Ultralow Critical Micelle Concentration
Abstract
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.