Spontaneously Self-Assembled Naphthalimide Nanosheets: Aggregation-Induced Emission and Unveiling a-PET for Sensitive Detection of Organic Volatile Contaminants in Water.

A simple design strategy of long alkyl chain substitution was formulated to block the detrimental π-π interaction that potentially transforms the aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) chromophores into aggregation-induced emission (AIE) active smart nanomaterials. The long octadecyl pendant chain substituted naphthalimide (NI) derivatives self-assembled into fluorescent nanosheets (NS)-like structures that spontaneously have surfaces coated with NI cores in water. The fluorescent NS were subsequently used to recognize the organic volatile contaminants (OVCs) at ppb levels via an acceptor-excited photoinduced electron transfer (a-PET) mechanism, unveiled as the first representative example. A new design strategy is thereby provided to detect toxic xylene derivatives in water using smart nanomaterials.