Long‐lasting chemiluminescence by aggregation‐induced emission surfactant with ultralow critical micelle concentration

Abstract

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.

Keywords

• aggregation‐induced emission
• energy transfer
• fluorescent surfactant
• long‐lasting chemiluminescence
• ultralow critical micelle concentration