This encyclopaedia presents an authoritative overview of the fundamentals and advanced topics in aggregation-induced emission (AIE). Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) is a new branch of luminescent materials research that aims to explore luminescence at the aggregate level. AIE luminogens (AIEgens) often show no emission in solutions at the molecular level but become brightly emissive when their molecular species are aggregated. Aggregation processes generally involve the interplay of competitive or cooperative effects, and new structures, properties, and functions usually appear and diversify in the aggregates. Divided into 20 parts, this book covers all relevant aspects of the AIE phenomena, including room temperature phosphorescence, photosensitizers and clinical applications. It also introduces the development of a new generation of AIEgens, and provides a deep understanding of the AIE mechanisms. In addition, it explores advanced technological applications that have driven the explosive growth of the field and can enable this exciting field to develop further. Edited by the pioneering researcher who started this field, Professor Ben Zhong Tang and his team, this book serves as a valuable reference and appeals to a wide readership of students, researchers and professionals interested in the fields of Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and other related fields.

Ben Zhong Tang is a Distinguished Presidential Chair Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-SZ). His research interests include macromolecular chemistry, materials science, and biomedical theranostics.  He is spearheading the research on aggregation-induced emission (AIE), a topic ranked no. 2 in the areas of Chemistry and Materials Science by Thomson Reuters in its report on Research Fronts 2015.Prof. Tang received B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from South China University of Technology and Kyoto University, respectively.  He conducted postdoctoral research at University of Toronto.  He joined HKUST as an assistant professor in 1994 and was promoted to chair professor in 2008. Now he is an Adjunct Professor at HKUST. He was elected to Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), Asia Pacific Academy of Materials (APAM), World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries (TWAS), and International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering (IUSBSE).

 

Dr. Zheng Zhao is an assistant professor of CUHK-SZ. He has been selected into National High-level Young Scholar Program (overseas), Presidential Young Fellow of CUHK-SZ. He is also the core member of Shenzhen Peacock Team Project. Dr. Zheng Zhao obtained his Ph.D. degree from Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2009-2014) under the supervision of Prof. Daoben Zhu and Professor Xike Gao. He moved to The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2015 to do postdoctoral research in Prof. Ben Zhong Tang’s group. In 2020, he joined the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Southeast University as a professor to carry out independent research work. Since 2021, he works as an assistant professor in the School of Science and Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Chinese (Shenzhen) to carry out independent research work.

 

Prof. Zijie Qiu is the tenure-track Assistant Professor and Presidential Young Scholar at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen). Prof. Qiu received his B.S. in Chemistry from Fudan University in 2014. From 2014 to 2018, he was financially supported by the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme and obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). From 2018 to 2021, he conducted postdoctoral research as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow and was promoted as the Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPIP) in Germany.

 

Haoran Wang is currently an Associate Professor at Shenzhen MSU-BIT University. Prof. Wang obtained his Bachelor's and Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry from Jilin University (2012-2021). In 2021, he joined the research group of Prof. Ben Zhong Tang at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as a postdoctoral researcher.

His research focuses on the development, structure-property mechanistic study and application of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) materials, as well as crystal photoactuation. He has published over 20 publications as the first or corresponding author in J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Chem, Nat. Comm., and CCS Chem., with more than 1,500 citations. In addition, he has authored a popular science book and holds one authorized Chinese patent and one US patent.