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This review addresses the latest advancements in the integration of aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) materials with polymer electrospinning, to accomplish fine‐scale electrospun fibers with tunable photophysical and photochemical properties. Micro‐ and nanoscale fibers augmented with AIE dyes (termed AIEgens) are bespoke composite systems that can overcome the limitation posed by aggregation‐caused quenching, a critical deficiency of conventional luminescent materials. This review comprises three parts. First, the reader is exposed to the basic concepts of AIE and the fundamental mechanisms underpinning the restriction of intermolecular motions. This is followed by an introduction to electrospinning techniques pertinent to AIE‐based fibers, and the core parameters for controlling fiber architecture and resultant properties. Second, exemplars are drawn from latest research to demonstrate how electrospun nanofibers and porous films incorporating modified AIEgens (especially tetraphenylethylene and triphenylamine derivatives) can yield enhanced photostability, photothermal properties, photoefficiency (quantum yield), and improved device sensitivity. Advanced applications are drawn from several promising sectors, encompassing optoelectronics, drug delivery and biology, chemosensors and mechanochromic sensors, and innovative photothermal devices, among others. Finally, the outstanding challenges together with potential opportunities in the nascent field of electrospun AIE‐active fibers are presented, for stimulating frontier research and explorations in this exciting field. This review gives an overview of the advanced composite fibers engineered from electrospinning of AIE‐active (aggregation‐induced emission) materials, for potential use in photodynamic and photothermal devices, optoelectronics, sensors, biology, and biomedicines. Detailed structure–property relationships are addressed in terms of AIE chemical structures, fiber morphology, and composite microstructures.

Aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) is a photophysical phenomenon that a certain group of luminescent materials that become highly luminous when aggregated in a bad solvent or solid state. This year is the 20th anniversary since the AIE concept firstly proposed in 2001. Many advanced applications were gradually being explored, covering optics, electronics, energy, and bioscience and so on. At present, bibliometrics can enlighten the researchers with comprehensive sights of the achievements and trends of a specific field, which is critical for academic investigations. Herein, we presented a general bibliometric overview of AIE covering 20 years of evolution. With the assistance of Web of Science Core Collection database and several bibliometric software tools, the annual publication and citation, most influential countries/regions, most contributing authors, journals and institutions, second near‐infrared (NIR‐II) related hotspots, as well as the forecast of frontiers were demonstrated and systematically analyzed. This study summarizes the current research status in AIE research field and provides a reference for future research directions. A bibliometric analysis is conducted to overview the development of AIE in the past two decades and provides a unique perspective for this field. Researchers with high citations, keyword co‐occurrence networks, NIR‐II imaging related foamtree, and frontier perspectives on AIE are visualized via different software in this study. A multi‐interdisciplinary system has been formed with aggregate science as the core subject.

The ongoing outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) pandemic has posed significant challenges in early viral diagnosis. Hence, it is urgently desirable to develop a rapid, inexpensive, and sensitive method to aid point‐of‐care SARS‐CoV‐2 detection. In this work, we report a highly sequence‐specific biosensor based on nanocomposites with aggregation‐induced emission luminogens (AIEgen)‐labeled oligonucleotide probes on graphene oxide nanosheets (AIEgen@GO) for one step‐detection of SARS‐CoV‐2‐specific nucleic acid sequences (Orf1ab or N genes). A dual “turn‐on” mechanism based on AIEgen@GO was established for viral nucleic acids detection. Here, the first‐stage fluorescence recovery was due to dissociation of the AIEgen from GO surface in the presence of target viral nucleic acid, and the second‐stage enhancement of AIE‐based fluorescent signal was due to the formation of a nucleic acid duplex to restrict the intramolecular rotation of the AIEgen. Furthermore, the feasibility of our platform for diagnostic application was demonstrated by detecting SARS‐CoV‐2 virus plasmids containing both Orf1ab and N genes with rapid detection around 1 h and good sensitivity at pM level without amplification. Our platform shows great promise in assisting the initial rapid detection of the SARS‐CoV‐2 nucleic acid sequence before utilizing quantitative reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction for second confirmation. An AIEgen‐graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposite‐based assay is designed for rapid detection of SARS‐CoV‐2 nucleic acids. The sensing mechanism is based on two‐stage fluorescence signal recovery due to fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) effect by detaching AIEgen from GO surface and restricted intramolecular rotation (RIR) effect by formation of nucleic acid duplexes.

Specific bioconjugation for native primary amines is highly valuable for both chemistry and biomedical research. Despite all the efforts, scientists lack a proper strategy to achieve high selectivity for primary amines, not to mention the requirement of fast response in real applications. Herein, we report a chromone‐based aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) fluorogen called CMVMN as a self‐reporting bioconjugation reagent for selective primary amine identification, and its applications for monitoring bioprocesses of amination and protein labeling. CMVMN is AIE‐active and capable of solid‐state sensing. Thus, its electrospun films are manufactured for visualization of amine diffusion and leakage process. CMVMN also shows good biocompatibility and potential mitochondria‐staining ability, which provides new insight for organelle‐staining probe design. Combined with its facile synthesis and good reversibility, CMVMN would not only show wide potential applications in biology, but also offer new possibilities for molecular engineering. A chromone‐based aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) fluorogen called CMVMN as a self‐reporting bioconjugation reagent for selective primary amine identification in situ was reported, along with its applications of monitoring bioprocesses of amination, protein labeling, and mitochondria staining. It is capable of solid‐state sensing and its electrospun films are manufactured for visualization of amine diffusion and leakage process.

Light has been sought and explored by human since ancient times. As the most important form of light, fluorescence is significant to applications in bioimaging and optoelectronic devices. However, fluorescence quenching problem constitutes a serious bottleneck in materials creation. Inspired from the core–shell structure in nature, we report an effective strategy to overcome this long‐standing problem by utilizing a molecular core–shell structure. With an emissive core and multifunctional shell fragments, these compounds show aggregation‐induced delayed fluorescence (AIDF) properties by restricting singlet oxygen (1O2) generation and suppressing the triplet–triplet annihilation (TTA). Protected by the functional shell, the aggregation‐induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) exhibit strong emission with high photoluminescent quantum yield and exciton utilization. Furthermore, because the shell materials can form exciplex with electron‐transport materials, the fully solution‐processed organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on these core–shell materials show low turn‐on voltages, excellent device performance with current efficiency of 61.4 cd A–1 and power efficiency of 42.8 lm W–1, which is a record‐breaking efficiency based on all‐solution processed organic multilayer systems among the AIE‐OLEDs so far. This simple visualization strategy based on molecular core–shell structure provides a promising platform for AIEgens used in the fully wet‐processed optoelectronic field. Core–shell molecules are firstly designed and proposed to achieve aggregation‐induced delayed fluorescence (AIDF) by stabilizing and protecting the triplet exciton, then the fully solution‐processed OLEDs based on the core–shell structural emitters demonstrate superior device performance with maximum luminance of 30,000 cd m–2, excellent EL efficiencies of up to 21.8%, 61.4 cd A–1 and 42.8 lm W–1.

Aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) carbon dot (CDs) in solid state with tunable multicolor emissions have sparked significant interest in multidimensional anti‐counterfeiting. However, the realization of solid‐state fluorescence (SSF) by AIE effect and the regulation of fluorescence wavelength in solid state is a great challenge. In order to solve this dilemma, the AIE method to prepare multi‐color solid‐state CDs with fluorescence wavelengths ranging from bright blue to red emission is employed. Specifically, by using thiosalicylic acid and carbonyl hydrazine as precursors, the fluorescence wavelength can be accurately adjusted by varying the reaction temperature from 150 to 230 °C or changing the molar ratio of the precursors from 1:1 to 1:2. Structural analysis and theoretical calculations consistently indicate that increasing the sp2 domains or doping with graphite nitrogen both cause a redshift in the fluorescence wavelength of CDs in the solid state. Moreover, with the multi‐dimensional and adjustable fluorescence wavelength, the application of AIE CDs in the fields of multi‐anti‐counterfeiting encryption, ink printing, and screen printing is demonstrated. All in all, this work opens up a new way for preparing solid‐state multi‐color CDs using AIE effect, and further proposes an innovative strategy for controlling fluorescence wavelengths. Herein, they proposed an efficient and precise wavelength tuning mechanism for the Aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) carbon dots (CDs). Specifically, by using thiosalicylic acid and carbonyl hydrazine as precursors, they can accurately adjust the fluorescence wavelength by varying the reaction temperature or changing the molar ratio of the precursors. Moreover, the application of AIE CDs in the fields of multi anti‐counterfeiting encryption has been demonstrated.

Since the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) phenomenon was first reported by Tang et al., much effort has been devoted to the development of solid-state luminescent molecules by chemists worldwide. Our group successfully developed fluorinated tolanes as novel compact π-conjugated luminophores with blue photoluminescence (PL) in the crystalline state. Moreover, we reported the yellow-green PL molecules based on their electron-density distributions. In the present study, we designed and synthesized fluorinated tolanes with various amine-based donors and evaluated their photophysical properties. The carbazole-substituted fluorinated tolane exhibited strong PL in the solution state, whereas piperidine- or phenothiazine-substituted fluorinated tolanes showed a dramatic decrease in PL efficiency. Notably, fluorinated tolanes with piperidine or phenothiazine substituents displayed yellow-to-orange PL in the crystalline state; this may have occurred because these tolanes exhibited tightly packed structures formed by intermolecular interactions, such as H···F hydrogen bonds, which suppressed the non-radiative deactivation process. Moreover, fluorinated tolanes with amine-based donors exhibited AIE characteristics. We believe that these yellow-to-orange solid PL molecules can contribute to the development of new solid luminescent materials.

Aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) has emerged as a powerful tool for the design of next‐generation intelligent theranostic systems. AIE luminogens (AIEgens) exhibit exceptional sensitivity and signal fidelity in complex biological environments through the restriction of intramolecular motion (RIM), which suppresses nonradiative decay and facilitates highly efficient fluorescence emission in the aggregated state. This review critically evaluates the recent integration of AIE materials into multifunctional theranostic systems, including near‐infrared II (NIR‐II) emissive nanoprobes for deep‐tissue imaging, AIE‐powered ELISA assays with femtomolar sensitivity, CRISPR‐compatible detection platforms for real‐time visualization of gene editing, and the emerging application of artificial intelligence (AI) for improved diagnostic accuracy and material design. Despite these breakthroughs, translational barriers—such as limited structural diversity, batch‐to‐batch variability, and the absence of comprehensive regulatory frameworks—still hinder clinical adoption. Addressing these obstacles through AI‐driven molecular engineering, scalable synthetic methodologies, and standardized evaluation protocols will be pivotal for advancing AIE materials toward clinical implementation. This review not only consolidates recent progress but also provides a forward‐looking perspective on the strategic directions and interdisciplinary collaborations necessary to translate AIE innovations from bench to bedside. Aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) luminogens are driving a new generation of intelligent theranostic systems that integrate high‐fidelity imaging and multifunctional therapy. This review highlights how AIEgens, through restriction of intramolecular motion (RIM), enable deep‐tissue NIR‐II imaging, ultrasensitive biosensing, CRISPR‐assisted gene monitoring, and smart drug delivery with synergistic phototherapies. We also discuss the role of artificial intelligence in optimizing AIE molecular design and clinical translation. By bridging molecular innovation with biomedical applications, AIE materials are paving the way toward precision diagnostics and personalized treatment.

The aberrant behavior of lipid droplets (LDs) is often indicative of cellular dysfunction, which may contribute to the development of a range of diseases, particularly metabolic dysfunction‐associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and atherosclerosis (AS). Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop fluorescence probes targeting LDs to monitor the progression of disease. In this study, an unanticipated one‐pot boron tribromide (BBr₃)/boron trichloride (BCl₃)‐promoted cyclization reaction was discovered, yielding a bromo‐/chloro‐substituted triphenylamine (TPA) derivative (TPA‐Br/TPA‐Cl). TPA‐Br was successfully transformed into new TPA‐containing donor‐acceptor (D–A) molecules which show typical aggregation induced emission (AIE) property. Among these new AIE emitters, TPA‐N shows the most promising LDs targeting specificity, lowest toxicity and best photo‐stability. Ex vivo studies further demonstrate that TPA‐N can be used to fluorescence image fatty liver and AS plaque quickly and effectively. This work reports an unanticipated one‐pot cyclization reaction induced by boron tribromide (BBr₃)/boron trichloride (BCl₃) to construct novel triphenylamine based aggregation induced emission emitters. Among these emitters, TPA‐N shows the best performance for lipid droplet imaging, which can be further be used to fluorescence image fatty liver effectively and AS plaque.

Lipid droplets (LDs) are dynamic intracellular organelles that participate in a wide range of physiological and pathological processes. Consequently, the development of high‐selectivity and high‐resolution tools for LD detection and tracking is of paramount importance. In this study, we describe the straightforward synthesis of a series of novel BODIPY analogs, BOQHYs 3a–3e, through the condensation of 2,3‐dihydrazinylquinoline with acetone or benzophenone, followed by complexation with BF3·OEt2. Spectroscopic properties indicate that these dyes exhibited significantly larger Stokes shifts (>100 nm) than the commercial LD‐Tracker BODIPY 493/503 (≈10 nm). Additionally, the incorporation of phenyl “rotors” endows BOQHYs 3b–3e with heightened aggregation‐induced emission activity, viscosity responsiveness, and exceptional lipophilicity, enabling their selective staining of LDs in a rapid and wash‐free manner, with outstanding signal‐to‐noise ratios. Time‐resolved confocal fluorescence imaging of 3d further validates these dyes’ capability to effectively capture LD fusion and fission events, highlighting their potential applications in LD‐related cell biology and disease diagnostics. A series of novel fluoboron complexes, BOQHYs, possessing aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) activity for rapid and wash‐free staining of lipid droplets (LDs) were rationally designed.