Issue 1, 2018

Hydroxyl-triggered fluorescence for location of inorganic materials in polymer-matrix composites

Abstract

There is a long-standing challenge to realize in situ visualization of incorporated inorganic materials in organic–inorganic composites in a post-labeling manner, owing to the lack of specific fluorescent organic dye molecules for targeting inorganic materials. Herein, we observe that the specific covalent B–O binding between the hydroxyl groups of inorganic materials and commercially available aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-active boronic acid could lead to the formation of highly emissive solid-state fluorescent composite materials. The hydroxyl-triggered luminescent probe may serve as a practical method for in situ location of incorporated inorganic materials in polymer-matrix composites by simply dipping the composite film in boronic acid-modified AIE solution. This present work offers a non-invasive avenue to locate inorganic materials which possess hydroxyl-groups in polymer-matrix composites, thereby developing a convenient screening strategy for assessing the advanced properties of composites. This strategy can also be extended to the targeted tracing of other inorganic materials with inherent and functionalized carboxyl, amino, sulfhydryl and other groups via tuning the binding affinity between the inorganic materials and luminescent molecules.

Graphical abstract: Hydroxyl-triggered fluorescence for location of inorganic materials in polymer-matrix composites

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
06 Sep 2017
Accepted
16 Oct 2017
First published
16 Oct 2017
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2018,9, 218-222

Hydroxyl-triggered fluorescence for location of inorganic materials in polymer-matrix composites

R. Tian, J. Zhong, C. Lu and X. Duan, Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 218 DOI: 10.1039/C7SC03897F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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