What is it about?
AIE research in recent decades has rapidly propagated into various fields, encompassing physics, chemistry, materials science, optics and electronics, engineering science, and biomedical sciences. The diversity of the AIE-derived composite materials is immense, and there are numerous opportunities to engineer innovative material systems. Rational design of bespoke AIEgen materials coupled with electrospinning methodologies could revolutionize the way future materials are being designed and engineered toward specific functions in various field.
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Why is it important?
This review addresses the latest advancements in the integration of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) materials with polymer electrospinning, to accomplish fine-scale electrospun fibers with tunable photophysical and photochemical properties. Micro- and nanoscale fibers augmented with AIE dyes (termed AIEgens) are bespoke composite systems that can overcome the limitation posed by aggregation-caused quenching, a critical deficiency of conventional luminescent materials. This review comprises three parts. First, the reader is exposed to the basic concepts of AIE and the fundamental mechanisms underpinning the restriction of intermolecular motions. This is followed by an introduction to electrospinning techniques pertinent to AIE-based fibers, and the core parameters for controlling fiber architecture and resultant properties. Second, exemplars are drawn from latest research to demonstrate how electrospun nanofibers and porous films incorporating modified AIEgens (especially tetraphenylethylene and triphenylamine derivatives) can yield enhanced photostability, photothermal properties, photoefficiency (quantum yield), and improved device sensitivity
Perspectives
An attempt is made to describe the qualities and applications of AIE-electrospun fiber in terms of fiber morphology and the underpinning microstructures. Significant findings from recent exemplars are critically analyzed, comprising not only small AIE molecules and their derivatives but also macromolecular systems. Our objective is to gain a deeper insight into the role of electrospun fibers environment and the AIE–polymer interactions. To this end, special attention is given to understanding the combined effects of chemical structures and electrospinning pathways have on the fiber architectures and the resultant stimuli-responsive behavior of a composite system. The current review will elucidate how the electrospun fiber provides a tunable micro/nanoscale environment for controlling the aggregation mechanism in an AIE–polymer assembly, bestowing unique functions not found in either AIEgen (filler) or polymer (matrix) treated in isolation.
vishal kachwal
University of Oxford
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Stimuli‐Responsive Electrospun Fluorescent Fibers Augmented with Aggregation‐Induced Emission (AIE) for Smart Applications, Advanced Science, November 2022, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/advs.202204848.
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