A multifunctional aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-active fluorescent chemosensor for detection of Zn2+ and Hg2+

An aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-active fluorescent chemosensor based on a tetraphenylethene (WE) unit has been successfully designed and synthesized. Interestingly, the luminogen could detect Zn2+ selectively in a THE solution with the detection limit of 1.24 x 10(-6) mol L-1. Meanwhile, the luminogen could also detect Hg2+ selectively in a THE-water mixture with the water content of 90%, and the detection limit was 2.55 x 10(-9) mol L-1. Furthermore, the solid-state mechanochromic fluorescence behavior of the luminogen was investigated systematically. Indeed, the AIE-active luminogen also exhibited reversible mechanofluorochromic phenomenon involving fluorescent color change from blue to green, and powder X-ray diffraction results indicated that the switchable morphology conversion between crystalline and amorphous states was responsible for this mechanochromism phenomenon. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.