Synthesis, micellar structures and emission mechanisms of an AIE and DDED-featured fluorescent pH- and thermo-meter

A new nanoprobe, the luminescent diblock copolymer PNIPAM(MAh-4)-b-P4VP (PN4P), with pH- and thermo-responsive deprotonation-driven emission decay (DDED) and aggregation-induced emission (AIE) features was designed and synthesized. The nanoprobe PN4P can form micellar structures in water with reversible dual-responsive fluorescence (FL) behavior within a wide pH range of 2–11. The critical solution temperature was found at about 32, 30 and 27 °C as the pH switched from 2, 7 to 11. The critical pH value of the probe was about 4.0, and the micelles showed a core–shell inversion in response to pH and thermal stimuli, accompanied by a desirable emission tunability. P4VP as the micellar shell at pH = 2 was more easily dehydrated with the increase in temperature as compared to PNIPAM as the micellar shell at pH > 4. The strongest dehydration of the P4VP shell would make PN4P the most strongly aggregated and the most AIE-active, which supports the 2.10-fold most distinguished thermal-responsive emission enhancement at pH = 2. Moreover, a dramatic acidochromic redshift of the emission band from 450 (pH > 4) to 490 nm (pH = 2) was observed, and the maximum emission at pH = 2 was enhanced by about 2.07-fold as compared with that at pH = 7. Therefore, the probe displays the desired dual responses and good reversibility. AIE and DDED are the two major mechanisms responsible for the dual-responsive emission change, with AIE playing a more important role than DDED. This work offers a promising approach to interpreting temperature (range from 28 to 40 °C) and pH changes (range from 2 to 7) in water.