Aggregation-Induced Emission Polymers via Reversible-Deactivation Radical Polymerization

Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) is a unique phenomenon whereby aggregation of molecules induces fluorescence emission as opposed to the more commonly known Aggregation-Caused Quenching (ACQ). AIE has the potential to be utilized in the large-scale production of AIE-active polymeric materials because of their wide range of practical applications such as stimuli-responsive sensors, biological imaging agents, and drug delivery systems. This is evident from the increasing number of publications over the years since AIE was first discovered. In addition, the ever-growing interest in this field has led many researchers around the world to develop new and creative methods in the design of monomers, initiators and crosslinkers, with the goal of broadening the scope and utility of AIE polymers. One of the most promising approaches to the design and synthesis of AIE polymers is the use of the Reversible-Deactivation Radical Polymerization (RDRP) techniques, which enabled the production of well-controlled AIE materials that are often difficult to achieve by other methods. In this review, a summary of some recent works that utilize RDRP for AIE polymer design and synthesis is presented, including (1) the design of AIE-related monomers, initiators/crosslinkers; the achievements in preparation of AIE polymers using (2) Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain Transfer (RAFT) technique; (3) Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP) technique; (4) other techniques such as Cu(0)-RDRP technique and Nitroxide-Mediated Polymerization (NMP) technique; (5) the possible applications of these AIE polymers and finally (6) a summary/perspective and the future direction of AIE polymers.