Issue 15, 2018

The photochromism, light harvesting and self-assembly activity of a multi-function Schiff-base compound based on the AIE effect

Abstract

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) luminogens with photochromic properties show strong potential in molecular switches, photo-controllable materials, photo-patterning, etc. In this paper one Schiff-base compound 1 exhibited reversible photo-controllable colour changes in solid states due to the typical ESIPT effect: the crystal turned from colourless to yellow after ultraviolet light irradiation and became colourless again in the dark. Second, 1 presented a good aggregation-induced emission (AIE) activity in aqueous solution. Third, highly efficient light-harvesting systems are successfully fabricated in aqueous solution based on AIE(1) and rhodamine B, where AIE(1) acts as an energy donor and rhodamine B acts as an acceptor. Fourth, addition of Al3+ or Cu2+ ions destructed the N⋯H–O hydrogen bond and induced the rearrangement or destruction of AIE(1) with a different emission. Last, theoretical calculations of deprotonated 1 indicated that the protons on phenolic hydroxyl groups have a great influence on the fluorescence properties of 1. These results demonstrated that compound 1 is a multi-functional organic luminescent material exhibiting excellent photochromism, light-harvesting and AIE properties.

Graphical abstract: The photochromism, light harvesting and self-assembly activity of a multi-function Schiff-base compound based on the AIE effect

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
30 Jan 2018
Accepted
13 Mar 2018
First published
14 Mar 2018

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2018,6, 4057-4064

The photochromism, light harvesting and self-assembly activity of a multi-function Schiff-base compound based on the AIE effect

J. Chai, Y. Wu, B. Yang and B. Liu, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2018, 6, 4057 DOI: 10.1039/C8TC00509E

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