Issue 11, 2018

Observation of a new type of aggregation-induced emission in nanoclusters

Abstract

The strategy of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) has been widely used to enhance the photo-luminescence (PL) in the nanocluster (NC) research field. Most of the previous reports on aggregation-induced enhancement of fluorescence in NCs are induced by the restriction of intramolecular motion (RIM). In this work, a novel mechanism involving the restriction of the “dissociation–aggregation pattern” of ligands is presented using a Ag29(BDT)12(TPP)4 NC (BDT: 1,3-benzenedithiol; TPP: triphenylphosphine) as a model. By the addition of TPP into an N,N-dimethylformamide solution of Ag29(BDT)12(TPP)4, the PL intensity of the Ag29(BDT)12(TPP)4 NC could be significantly enhanced (13 times, quantum yield from 0.9% to 11.7%) due to the restricted TPP dissociation–aggregation process. This novel mechanism is further validated by a low-temperature PL study. Different from the significant PL enhancement of the Ag29(BDT)12(TPP)4 NC, the non-dissociative Pt1Ag28(S-Adm)18(TPP)4 NC (S-Adm: 1-adamantanethiol) exhibits a maintained PL intensity under the same TPP-addition conditions. Overall, this work presents a new mechanism for largely enhancing the PL of NCs via modulating the dissociation of ligands on the NC surface, which is totally different from the previously reported AIE phenomena in the NC field.

Graphical abstract: Observation of a new type of aggregation-induced emission in nanoclusters

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
15 Dec 2017
Accepted
18 Feb 2018
First published
19 Feb 2018
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, 3062-3068

Observation of a new type of aggregation-induced emission in nanoclusters

X. Kang, S. Wang and M. Zhu, Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 3062 DOI: 10.1039/C7SC05317G

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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