Aggregation induced emission amphiphile with an ultra low critical micelle concentration: fabrication, self assembling, and cell imaging

Abstract

A novel aggregation induced emission amphiphile is constructed, containing a tetraphenylethene hydrophobic moiety connected to a hydrophilic quarternary ammonium salt. Owing to an ultra low critical micelle concentration in water, the amphiphile tends to self assemble into well-defined organic nanoaggregates that exhibit intense fluorescence, stable dispersibility in dilute solutions, and excellent biocompatibility for cell imaging.