Coordination-driven micellelization of block copolymers with gold(i) complexes induces remarkable phosphorescence enhancements with reversible mechanochromism

Stimuli-Responsive Polymers with Room-Temperature Phosphorescence

Taking advantages of the impressing behaviors of room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP), the explorations in RTP materials are not only limited to efficient emission and ultralong lifetime of phosphorescence. The discovery and creation of stimuli-responsive properties have become the major pursuit, which will lay a solid foundation for future applications in RTP materials. Based on this, a review centered on recent progress of stimuli-responsive RTP materials is summarized to show frontier development in polymer systems. Different kinds of stimuli-responsive factors including light, oxygen, temperature, mechanical force and pH regulations are investigated in this review. Many potential applications and promising strategies are deeply discussed with the hope to assist future studies in this area.

Controlling the supramolecular polymerization of dinuclear isocyanide gold(i) arylethynylene complexes through tuning the central π-conjugated moiety

Tuning the middle chromophores of dinuclear gold(i) arylethynyl complexes has been demonstrated to exhibit a pronounced effect on the photophysical properties, self-assembly mechanisms and morphologies.

Realizing enhanced luminescence of silver nanocluster-peptide soft hydrogels by PEI reinforcement

Metal nanoclusters (NCs) are a new type of fluorescent nanomaterial composed of several to several tens of metal ions or atoms with a wide range of applications in the fields of catalysis, optics, and biomedicine. However, fluorescence quenching when existing as individuals in aqueous solutions greatly limits their applications. In this study, six-core Ag(i) NCs (Ag₆-NCs) were interacted with peptides (DD-5) in water to form soft hydrogels with the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) of Ag₆-NCs. The introduction of polyethyleneimine (PEI) into the Ag₆-NCs/DD-5 hydrogel succeeded in further enhancing the fluorescence intensity. This dual-AIE behavior of the Ag₆-NCs/DD-5/PEI hydrogels is mainly ascribed to the strong hydrogen bonding among the carboxyl groups of Ag₆, those of DD-5 and the amino groups of PEI, which effectively restricted intramolecular vibration of the capping ligands on the Ag₆-NCs. Moreover, the addition of PEI can effectively promote the gelation speed of Ag₆-NCs/DD-5 and act as a physical cross-linker, leading to an increase of the mechanical strength of the hydrogel. This work opens a new pathway for the fabrication of smart composite materials with multiple functions, which show a variety of applications such as chemical/biosensing and bioimaging.

Intensely phosphorescent block copolymer micelles containing gold(i) complexes

The electrostatic combination of anionic block copolymers with cationic gold(i) complexes leads to the formation of spherical micelles, where gold(i)-containing ionic cores were formed with anionic blocks and further stabilized by neutral blocks of polystyrene or poly(ethylene oxide). This self-assembled strategy induces remarkable phosphorescence enhancement of the gold(i) complexes in solution. The emissive intensity increases unexpectedly with increasing molecular weight of the anionic block that is not coordinated onto the gold(i) complexes. The intensely phosphorescent micelles formed in water can be utilized as a luminescence bioimaging probe in living cells.