Aggregation-induced Emission: A Novel Approach to Studying Polymer Science

摘要

Polymer science has played an increasingly important role in human life and modern society. Therefore, it is imperative to understand its structure-function relationship and properties deeply. Modern instruments are limited by ex situ and miscellaneous sample preparation, and display " darkness" in the testing process. Fortunately, fluorescence imaging technology has received considerable attention owing to its capacibity to visualize the variation of structure and morphology in materials. Traditional dyes suffer from aggregation-caused quenching effect, significantly restricting its practical applications. In contrast, due to the advantages of high fluorescence quantum efficiency and extreme sensitivity to external stimuli, aggregation-induced emission (AIE) technology has become a forefront of chemistry and materials. This account systematically summarizes how the unique molecular visualization technology based on the working principles of AIE can become a new method for in-situ study of polymer science: monitoring polymer solution properties, such as polymerization process, solubility parameters and structure-activity relationship; visualizing the polymer aggregate properties, such as solid-state segmental movement, glass transition, phase separation and crystallinity, etc. At last, the future development in this field has prospected.

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