Design of Aggregation-Induced Emissive Multiwalled Tubules for Efficiently Sequential Light Harvesting

In the endeavor to mimic natural light-harvesting systems (LHSs), a persistent challenge has been the tendency of synthetic materials to adopt spherical architectures rather than the desired multitubular structures found in nature. In this study, a novel carboxylbetaine-type zwitterionic surfactant with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties is designed. By coassembling with anionic surfactants, multiwalled tubules comprising bilayer membranes approximate to 5 nm thick are successfully constructed. With AIE fluorophores densely packed at the center, their AIE properties are triggered to serve as an efficient antenna for light harvesting and energy transfer. This facilitated high antenna effects via energy transfer from cyan fluorescent donor to yellow fluorescent acceptor and then to red fluorescent acceptor. Additionally, the emission color can be adjusted from blue to red by manipulating the donor/acceptor/acceptor ratio, with pure white-light emission achievable at specific ratios. This achievement not only realizes the construction of efficient sequential LHSs but also offers inspiration for the future design of artificial multitubular systems. A groundbreaking approach to design artificial light-harvesting systems (LHSs) is developed by introducing a novel carboxylbetaine-type aggregation-induced emission surfactant that self-assembles into multiwalled tubules, achieving efficient sequential energy transfer. This innovative method not only closely emulates natural LHSs but also offers tunable emission properties, paving the way for advanced applications in solar energy harvesting and bio-inspired materials. image