A novel polymer with AIE effect: Synthesis, emission properties and sensing performance to Fe3

• Published in: Journal of molecular liquids 2023-11, Vol.389, p.122922, Article 122922
• Main Authors: Guo, Xuezu, Tao, Furong, Cui, Yuezhi, Li, Xuechen, Cheng, Beijun, Tian, Pin, Lao, Chunxia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: AIE phenomenon; Detection of Fe3; Hydrogen bonding; Molecular fluorescence mechanism; Polymer structure
• ISSN: 0167-7322; 1873-3166
• DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2023.122922

•The new aggregation induced emission (AIE) polymer (P-AB) was designed and synthesized.•The relationship between the morphology changes of P-AB molecules in mixed solution and the appearance of AIE was studied.•The fluorescence of P-AB in aqueous solutions with different acid-base was studied.•The effect of P-AB intermolecular hydrogen bond on molecular AIE was studied.•P-AB has good response to Fe3+ in aqueous solution. In this paper, a novel polyacrylic acid AIE polymer, P-AB, was synthesized, and two analogs of P-AB, P-MB and P-ADB, were synthesized for comparative study. P-AB showed obvious AIE phenomenon in H2O-THF solution. The fluorescence intensity in H2O:THF = 4:6 was about 1.5 times stronger than that in pure water solution. The pH of the medium influenced the fluorescence properties of P-AB. P-AB had strong fluorescence under acidic condition. The fluorescence intensity decreased gradually with the increase of pH value. The comparative study on the fluorescence of P-MB, P-ADB and P-AB confirmed that the hydrogen bond between the –COOH in P-AB and the carbonyl group in barbiturate played a key role in the fluorescence change of P-AB. In addition, P-AB showed significant fluorescence quenching for Fe3+. The fluorescence detection limit of Fe3+ was 46.48 μM.