Efficient luminescence from nanostructured aggregates of organic luminogens

It has been a textbook knowledge that chromophore aggregation generally quenches light emission. Here, we present an opposite phenomenon termed aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and identified the restriction of intramolecular rotation as a main cause for the AIE effect. Based on the mechanistic understanding, we explored the technological applications of the AIE luminogens as light-emitting and sensoric materials.