Crystallization-Induced Hybrid Nano-Sheets of Fluorescent Polymers with Aggregation-Induced Emission Characteristics for Sensitive Explosive Detection

Fluorescent organic hybrid nanosheets were generated by crystallization of polymers capped with luminogenic molecules exhibiting aggregation-induced emission characteristics (AIE). During crystallization of polymers, AIE molecules were expelled out of lamellar crystals of polymers, and finally resided on the surface. The fluorescent nanosheets with dangling AIE molecules showed sensitive and specific response to explosives. Such polymer crystallization-induced fluorescent nanomaterials offers a unique avenue to fabricate functional nanomaterials with AIE molecule-enriched domains for potential applications in nanodevices, biological engineering, and so on.