Photo-induced hydrous organic aggregates for photoactivatable luminescence
Abstract Harnessing light to regulate molecular aggregation behavior has become an essential approach to confer useful properties for functional materials at the aggregate level. Current examples of photo-induced aggregation predominantly occur in solution, but the solvent—ubiquitous as it is—is oft...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60766-6 |
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| author | Zeyang Ding Rufan Mo Zonghang Liu Ying Peng Yixuan Chen Xiao Li Fulong Ma Guoqing Zhang Zheng Zhao Parvej Alam Bo Wu Zijie Qiu Ben Zhong Tang |
| author_facet | Zeyang Ding Rufan Mo Zonghang Liu Ying Peng Yixuan Chen Xiao Li Fulong Ma Guoqing Zhang Zheng Zhao Parvej Alam Bo Wu Zijie Qiu Ben Zhong Tang |
| author_sort | Zeyang Ding |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Harnessing light to regulate molecular aggregation behavior has become an essential approach to confer useful properties for functional materials at the aggregate level. Current examples of photo-induced aggregation predominantly occur in solution, but the solvent—ubiquitous as it is—is often overlooked as a potential participant in the aggregation process. In this study, photo-induced hydrous organic aggregates (HOA) are reported based on a hydrophobic nitroaromatic compound (NPAC). NPAC is non-emissive in both the molecule and anhydrous organic aggregate (AOA) states. In the presence of water and upon photo-irradiation, excited state NPAC co-assemblies with water via strong electron donor-acceptor interactions to form HOA, exhibiting intense luminescence (quantum yield = 58.88%) with characteristic dual-emission features. Experimental and theoretical data reveal that the bond angle in the nitro group is the key factor for modulating the excited behaviors of NPAC, with dual emissions originating from the locally excited (LE) state and the charge transfer (CT) state during the excited-state protonation process. Additionally, the high-contrast photoactivation process can be successfully applied in bioimaging and photodynamic therapy. This work offers valuable insights into modulating molecular aggregation based on the excited states of molecules, facilitating the advancement of photoactivatable luminescent materials. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ff9be8fb9df145a1b4087afef2c2503f |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-ff9be8fb9df145a1b4087afef2c2503f2025-08-20T03:03:25ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-07-0116111310.1038/s41467-025-60766-6Photo-induced hydrous organic aggregates for photoactivatable luminescenceZeyang Ding0Rufan Mo1Zonghang Liu2Ying Peng3Yixuan Chen4Xiao Li5Fulong Ma6Guoqing Zhang7Zheng Zhao8Parvej Alam9Bo Wu10Zijie Qiu11Ben Zhong Tang12School of Science and Engineering, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Aggregate Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen)School of Science and Engineering, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Aggregate Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen)School of Science and Engineering, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Aggregate Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen)School of Science and Engineering, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Aggregate Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen)School of Science and Engineering, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Aggregate Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen)School of Science and Engineering, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Aggregate Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen)Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, The Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyUniversity of Science and Technology of ChinaSchool of Science and Engineering, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Aggregate Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen)Clinical Translational Research Center of Aggregation-Induced Emission, School of Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen)School of Science and Engineering, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Aggregate Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen)School of Science and Engineering, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Aggregate Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen)School of Science and Engineering, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Aggregate Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen)Abstract Harnessing light to regulate molecular aggregation behavior has become an essential approach to confer useful properties for functional materials at the aggregate level. Current examples of photo-induced aggregation predominantly occur in solution, but the solvent—ubiquitous as it is—is often overlooked as a potential participant in the aggregation process. In this study, photo-induced hydrous organic aggregates (HOA) are reported based on a hydrophobic nitroaromatic compound (NPAC). NPAC is non-emissive in both the molecule and anhydrous organic aggregate (AOA) states. In the presence of water and upon photo-irradiation, excited state NPAC co-assemblies with water via strong electron donor-acceptor interactions to form HOA, exhibiting intense luminescence (quantum yield = 58.88%) with characteristic dual-emission features. Experimental and theoretical data reveal that the bond angle in the nitro group is the key factor for modulating the excited behaviors of NPAC, with dual emissions originating from the locally excited (LE) state and the charge transfer (CT) state during the excited-state protonation process. Additionally, the high-contrast photoactivation process can be successfully applied in bioimaging and photodynamic therapy. This work offers valuable insights into modulating molecular aggregation based on the excited states of molecules, facilitating the advancement of photoactivatable luminescent materials.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60766-6 |
| spellingShingle | Zeyang Ding Rufan Mo Zonghang Liu Ying Peng Yixuan Chen Xiao Li Fulong Ma Guoqing Zhang Zheng Zhao Parvej Alam Bo Wu Zijie Qiu Ben Zhong Tang Photo-induced hydrous organic aggregates for photoactivatable luminescence Nature Communications |
| title | Photo-induced hydrous organic aggregates for photoactivatable luminescence |
| title_full | Photo-induced hydrous organic aggregates for photoactivatable luminescence |
| title_fullStr | Photo-induced hydrous organic aggregates for photoactivatable luminescence |
| title_full_unstemmed | Photo-induced hydrous organic aggregates for photoactivatable luminescence |
| title_short | Photo-induced hydrous organic aggregates for photoactivatable luminescence |
| title_sort | photo induced hydrous organic aggregates for photoactivatable luminescence |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60766-6 |
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