AIE active TPE mesogens with p6mm columnar and Im3m cubic mesophases and white light emission property

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/j.molliq.2019.112079

The discotic tetraphenylethylene (TPE) mesogens composing of a TPE core surrounded by four flexible 1,2,3-triazole dendritic paddles were synthesized efficiently via CuAAC click reaction. Interesting such TPE mesogens can self-assemble into not only the h

Full text of DOI:10.1016/j.molliq.2019.112079

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AIE active TPE mesogens with p6mm columnar and Im3m cubic
mesophases and white light emission property
Ruilin Zhang, Hongfei Gao, Juan Yu, Chao Liu, Yuan Tao,
Xiaohong Cheng
PII:
S0167-7322(19)34677-X
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2019.112079
MOLLIQ 112079
Reference:
To appear in:
Journal of Molecular Liquids
Received date:
Revised date:
Accepted date:
21 August 2019
4 November 2019
5 November 2019
Please cite this article as: R. Zhang, H. Gao, J. Yu, et al., AIE active TPE mesogens with
p6mm columnar and Im3m cubic mesophases and white light emission property, Journal
of Molecular Liquids(2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2019.112079
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AIE active TPE mesogens with p6mm columnar and Im3m cubic mesophases and
white light emission property
Ruilin Zhang‡[a, b], Hongfei Gao‡[a], Juan Yu[c], Chao Liu[a], Yuan Tao[a], Xiaohong Cheng*[a]
[a] Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry for Natural Resources, Chemistry School of Chemical
Science and Technology, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, PR China.
Fax: (+86) 871 65032905
E-mail: xhcheng@ynu.edu.cn
[b] Forensic Medicine of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, P. R. China
[c] Kunming Institute of Precious Metals, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies for
Comprehensive Utilization of Platinum, Kunming, 650106, PR China
‡Both authors contributed equally to this work
Abstract: The discotic tetraphenylethylene (TPE) mesogens composing of a TPE core surrounded
by four flexible 1,2,3-triazole dendritic paddles were synthesized efficiently via CuAAC click
reaction. Interesting such TPE mesogens can self-assemble into not only the hexagonal columnar
phase but also the rarely observed 3D micellar
cubic phase in their bulk states, as well as
Im3m
organogels with spherulitic or porous morphologies in organic solvents. AIE effects are observed
in different aggregation states of such TPE mesogens. When such TPE mesogens are dispersed in
nematic LC 5CB, dichroic ratio values up to 6.34 are obtained. Furthermore the emission colors of
both pure TPE mesogens and the doped gel formed by doping TPE mesogen with DPP dye are
tunable. Remarkably, TPE/12+DPP/2C8 complex can exhibit stable white light emission (WLE)
in gel state and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) film.
Keywords: tetraphenylethylene; self-assembly; AIE; organogels; white light emission
1. Introduction
Luminogens with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) effects are current research interest
because of their enhanced emission phenomena in solid states [1] and their great values as novel
optical materials [2] and sensors [3]. AIE luminogens have been introduced into the skeletons of
liquid crystals (LCs) and organogelators, the obtained AIE-active LCs [4] and organogels [5] with
their unique combination of optophysical and ordered self-assembly features, have shown
fascinating properties and promising application [6].
Tetraphenylethylene (TPE) derivatives are a novel sort of AIE luminogens with simple
molecular structures [7] and easily functionalized character. A lot of functional TPE-based
derivatives have been developed and found applications as fluorescent chemosensors [8-10]
bioprobes [11-13], optoelectronic materials [14] and others [15]. A few of AIE active LCs have
been constructed with TPE core surrounded by either flexible alkyl/alkoxy chains or mesogenic
units [4b] via ether, ester [16] or 1,2,3-triazole linkages [4c], however only smectic [16c,17] or
columnar mesophases [4c,16a,e] have been displayed by these reported TPE mesogens,
thermotropic three dimentional (3D) micellar cubic phases have never been observed in these
reported TPE mesogens.

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Thermotropic 3D micellar cubic phases (CubI) are resulted from the 3D self-assembly of
spherical aggregates [18]. Surprisingly, the very complex
lattice, constructed by eight
Pm3n
spheroidic aggregates is strongly favored for such type of cubic phase as found in cone shaped
compounds [19], and in few discotic molecules including phthalocyanine derivatives [20,21] and
hydrogen-bonded G-quartet supramolecules [22], flat triphenylenes, and conic cycotriveratrylenes
with peripheries of dendritic groups [23]. Only in few exceptional cases, such as in molecules with
extended aromatic units [24-26] and strongly polar groups at the apex [27] an
lattice (body
Im3m
centered cubic BCC) was observed instead, and the occurrence of this
be expected.
cubic phase cannot
Im3m
On the other hand white-light emissive (WLE) materials have attracted considerable attention in
information display, fluorescent sensors, and optical-recording systems [28]. They can be
fabricated by merging components emitting three primary colors (red, green and blue) or two
complementary colors (e.g. blue and yellow). Gelation of components emitting different colors
can minimize the distance between the donor and acceptor molecules, and dedicate to the overlap
of the emission spectra of the donor and the absorption spectra of the acceptor, which would be
beneficial for the molecular energy transfer to obtain WLE materials with better performance [29].
Till now WLE gels containing the chromophore of organic molecules [30,31], organic metal
coordination compounds [32] and rare earth metal ions [33] have been reported. Their great
potentials in the areas including optical sensing, bio-imaging etc. would be expected [32c,34].
TPE active gels with blue, red and green emissions displayed morphologies with entangled
bundles of fibrous aggregates [35], fibrous helical nanostructures [36], and a porous network
structures [37] etc. have been reported. However, so far as we know, TPE organogel with WLE
has not been reported. Recently, TPE based metal organic framework (MOF) [38] and metallacage
[39] were used to fabricate white-light emissive diode (WLED), but TPE based metal-free organic
white light emission materials has been rarely reported [ 40 ]. Based on these literature
investigation, it should be very interesting to develop novel kinds of AIE-active LCs and
organogels, as well as their application as optoelectronic devices. Therefore herein, we employed
the click reaction to prepare the AIE-active discotic TPE mesogens consisting of a TPE core and
four peripheral flexible triazole dendritic paddlers. The self assembly behavior, AIE and
photophyical properties of such AIE-active discotic TPE mesogens were studied. The application
of these TPE mesogens for WLE materials has also been investigated.
2. Results and discussion
2.1. Synthesis
All the target compounds were synthesized by using McMurry [41] and click reactions [42] as
key steps (Scheme 1). The aromatic azides 2/n were obtained by nucleophilic substitution of
appropriately substituted benzylchlorides 1/n with sodium azides. TPE phenol 3 was synthesized
via the McMurry reaction from 4,4’-dihydroxybenzophenone [43]. The terminal alkyne 4 was
obtained by etherification of TPE phenol 3 with propargyl bromide. Finally click reaction between
terminal alkyne 4 and aromatic azides 2/n produced the target compounds TPE/n.

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Scheme 1. Synthesis of compounds TPE/n: Reagents and conditions: (i) CnH2n+1Br, DMF, K2CO3, 90 °C, 12 h,
92%; (ii) LiAlH4, THF, 25 °C, 2 h, 87%; (iii) SOCl2, THF, 25 °C, 1 h, 95%; (iv) KI, NaN3, DMF, 45 °C, 12 h,
89%; (v) Zn, TiCl4, THF, -20 °C - 55 °C, 24 h, 32%; (vi) 3-Bromopropyne, K2CO3, CH3CN, 70 °C, 12 h, 93%; (vii)
tert-Butanol, THF, H2O, sodium ascorbate, CuSO4·5H2O, 25 °C, 20 h, 75%-87%.
2.2. Mesomorphic properties
The mesomorphic behaviors of these molecules were studied by polarizing optical microscopy
(POM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The phase
transitions were summarized in Table 1. All the compounds were enantiotropic
(thermodynamically stable) LCs. Columnar phases were displayed by all these compounds TPE/n.
The lower homologues TPE/n with n = 8, 12 formed exclusively columnar phases in their whole
mesomorphic temperature ranges, whereas additional optically isotropic phases with cubic lattices
as higher temperature phases were found for higher homologues of TPE/n with n = 14, 16, 18
(Table 1). Under POM, TPE/n with n = 8, 12 showed the typical columnar textures with
spherulitic domains. Observed with an additional λ-retarder plate, the columnar phases are
optically negative (Fig. 1a and Fig. S1), indicating that the intramolecular π-conjugation path
(namely the long axis of the rigid cores) is on average vertical to the column long axis. This
suggested that these compounds could self-assemble into optically uniaxial columnar mesophases.
The wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) patterns of all the columnar phases are diffuse and
have their maximum at d = 0.45-0.52 nm (Fig. S3b, S4, S5b, S6, S7b, S8b, S9b, S10b), which
confirm the liquid-crystalline nature of all the columnar phases. The small-angle X-ray scatting
(SAXS) patterns of all the columnar phases showed three small-angle reflections with ratio of
reciprocal spacing of 1 : 31/2 : 2, suggesting (10), (11) and (20) planes of hexagonal lattice with
p6mm symmetry (Fig. 1b, and Fig. S3a, S4a, S5a, S7a). The lattice parameters of the hexagonal
columnar phases are 3.76 nm, 4.16 nm, 4.44 nm, 4.75 nm and 4.94 nm for compounds TPE/8,
TPE/12, TPE/14, TPE/16, and TPE/18 respectively (Table 1, and Tables S1-S3, S5, S7, S9). By
calculation, there is about one molecule in each unit cell for the columnar phases (Table 1 and
Table S9) [44]. Therefore on average one molecule should form a disk which is surrounded by
flexible alkyl chains. Piling up of the disks leadsto columns which further organize into p6mm
phase. Due to the propeller-shape of the tetraphenylethene, two neighboring molecules within a
column are presumably rotate by 45o with respect to each other in order to achieve optimal space
filling of the central core (Fig. 1c). The suggested models are consistent with the reconstructed
electron density map (Fig. S11a), as well as the molecular dynamics (MD) annealed model (Fig.
S11b) [45,46]. The intermolecular π-π interactions and microsegregation of the rigid aromatic core

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from the surrounding alkyl chain tails, as well as intermolecular dipole-dipole interactions are the
driving forces for the self-assembly of such hexagonal columnar phases.
(a)
(b)
(d)
(c)
Fig. 1. Colhex/p6mm phase of TPE/12: (a) Textures under POM cooling at T = 70 °C; (b) XRD patterns at T =
70 °C; (c) The model for Colhex phase; (d) XRD patterns of Cub / at T = 80 °C, the insert is the model of
Im3m
I
phase.
Im3m
As mentioned above, the lower homologues of TPE/n with n = 8, 12 form exclusively columnar
phases in the whole mesomorphic temperature ranges, whereas additional optically isotropic
phases with cubic lattices were found in the higher temperature ranges for higher homologues of
TPE/n with n = 14, 16, 18. The DSC data further confirmed the existence of two different LC
phases (Fig. S2c-e). This thermal behavior was also examined by polarized optical microscopy
(POM). Taking compound TPE/14 as an example, on cooling from the isotropic liquid phase,
optically isotropic phase (nonbirefringent) with high viscous was observed at 80 °C, which was
typically found in the cubic mesophases (Fig. S1e and S1f). On further cooling to 45 °C, the
sheet-like texture was observed instead, indicating another LC phase (Fig. S1c and S1d). Under all
the situations the cubic phase occurred in the higher temperature range above the columnar phase
(Table 1). Thus upon chain elongation or temperature increasing, a transition from columnar to a
cubic phase was observed. Because the curvature of the aromatic/aliphatic interface increased with
rising temperature or elongation of alkyl chain, the cubic phases reported here were anticipated to
be micellar cubic phases (CubI) [47]. In the small-angle region there were several sharp reflections
with reciprocal spacing ratio of 1 : 21/2 : 31/2 : 2, indexed as (110), (200), (211) and (220) of a body
centered lattice (Fig. 1d), the most likely space group was
with lattice parameter acub =
Im3m
4.44 nm, 4.75 nm and 4.94 nm for the cubic phase of compounds TPE/n (n = 14, 16, 18)
respectively (Table 1 and Tables S4, S6, S8, S9).

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Table 1
The phase transition temperatures, XRD data and other data of compounds TPE/n.[a]
Comp.
T/°C [∆H/kJ mol-1]
a/nm (T/°C)
μ
Cr <20 Colhex/p6mm 81.5 [3.1] Iso
Cr <20 Colhex/p6mm 100.5 [3.0] Iso
Cr 33.9 [72.7] Colhex/p6mm 62.1 [0.4] CubI/
ahex = 3.76 (60)
ahex = 4.16 (70)
ahex = 4.44 (50)
acub = 4.93 (80)
ahex = 4.75 (40)
acub = 5.24 (70)
ahex = 4.94 (55)
acub = 5.31 (100)
1.27
1.21
1.27
23.3
1.36
20.6
1.33
19.6
TPE/8
TPE/12
TPE/14
93.9 [0.8] Iso
Im3m
Cr 41.9 [76.9] Colhex/p6mm 59.3 [1.1] CubI/
96.4 [0.4] Iso
TPE/16
TPE/18
Im3m
Cr 58.9 [76.9] Colhex/p6mm 75.9 [1.1] CubI/
115.6 [0.4] Iso
Im3m
[a] Transition temperatures and transition enthalpies were determined by DSC (5 K min-1) and confirmed by POM,
peak temperatures of the 2nd heating scan were given; abbreviations: Cr = crystal, Colhex/p6mm = hexagonal
columnar phase with p6mm symmetry, Cub /
= cubic phase with space group
, Iso = isotropic liquid, a
Im3m
Im3m
I
= lattice parameter; μ = number of molecules in the columnar slice for Colhex/p6mm phase (μ = (a2/2) h(NA/M)ρ,
3
assuming density of ρ = 1 g/cm3 and h = the height of each stratum of the columns measured by WAXS) or number
of molecules in each spheroidic aggregates on average for Cub /
phase (μ = ncell/2).
Im3m
I
By comparison, the isotropic temperature of the columnar phase of TPE/12 is 30 °C lower than
that of the literature reported TPE triazole derivative 2 [4c] (Fig. S12) with the same alkoxyl chain
length but without flexible methylenene oxide linkages in the peripheral, which indicated that the
flexibility of peripheral triazole dendritic paddles has great influence on the stability of the
mesophase. In the discotic TPE mesogens reported here, the flexibility of peripheral triazole
dendritic paddles allowed the adoption of different conformations, leading to the denser packing
of the TPE core units and favoring a much stronger interface curvature, thus leading to the
formation of more stable columnar phase for compounds (TPE/n, n = 8, 12, 14, 16, 18) and
micellar cubic phases for longer chain compounds (TPE/n, n = 14, 16, 18).
It should be noted that this is the first time that TPE derivatives display a micellar cubic phase,
and most interesting the micellar cubic phase is with the rarely observed
lattice.
(body centered)
Im3m
2.3. Gel properties
The gelation behavior of selected representative compounds TPE/12 and TPE/14 were tested in
different solvents. The results were summarized in Table S10. The two compounds could gelate
1,4-dioxane and ethyl acetate (EA). The morphologies of the formed gels were studied by using a
scanning electron microscope (SEM). The morphologies of the xerogels obtained from TPE/12
and TPE/14 in EA showed spherical structures with an average diameter of 5 μm (Fig. 2a and Fig.
S13a). The morphologies of xerogels obtained from TPE/12 and TPE/14 in 1,4-dioxane however
showed a 3D porous structures with the diameters of 8 μm and 1 μm respectively (Fig. 2b and Fig.
S13b). The different morphologies may be due to the different gelator-gelator/gelator-solvent
interactions [48] and different polarities of the solvents.

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(a)
(b)
Fig. 2. SEM images of the xerogels: (a) TPE/12 in ethyl acetate; (b) TPE/12 in 1,4-dioxane.
2.4. Photophysical properties
2.4.1. AIE in LC states
The AIE in LC states was tested with the representive compound TPE/14. Upon heating
TPE/14 from room temperature, PL spectra were recorded in its solid, LC and isotropic liquid
states (Fig. 3). The fluorescence intensity is strongest in the solid state, slightly weaker in the LC
states, and weakest in the isotropic liquid (Fig. 3a and 3b). Usually, the maximum wavelength
changed little, but the emission intensity became weaker upon rising temperature. As shown in Fig.
3c, the emission color was bright blue for the Cr, then changed to be sky blue in the temperature
range of Colhex phase. Finally, the emission color changed to be bright green at the temperature
range for the CubI phase. The light green emission persisted in the liquid phase but became
dimmer upon rising temperature. The quenching of fluorescence by intermolecular π-π stacking
might be accompanied by non-radiative decay processes, being ascribed to an increased molecular
mobility at a higher temperature and thus the increased possibility of the excited state to relax by
internal energy conversion or transfer via collision [4c]. The emission color change of TPE/14
observed during the heating process could be observed during cooling process too. This means
that the change in emission color can be controlled simply by temperature. Such property could be
applied to manufacture stimuli-responsive functional materials.
(b)
(a)
Colhex
(c)
CubI
80°C
Liquid
100°C
Cr
20°C
40°C
60°C

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Fig. 3. (a) Emission spectra of compound TPE/14 recorded during heating from solid to Colhex via CubI to
isotropic phase; (b) Plot of the emission intensity of the maximum wavelength vs the temperature; (c) Emission
color change of TPE/14 as a function of temperature under 365 nm UV light.
2.4.2. AIE in gel states
Compounds TPE/n displayed gelation-induced fluorescence enhancement effect. As shown in
Fig. S15a, the TPE/12 was nonfluorescent under 365 nm UV light irradiation when the gel was
heated into the solution state. But strong blue emission light was observed in gel state when
TPE/12 solution was cooled down.
The fluorescence intensity of TPE/12 in the gel state and in the solution with the same
concentration in EA was compared (Fig. S15b). The fluorescence intensity of the solution of
TPE/12 was rather weak. In contrast the fluorescence intensity of the corresponding gel of
TPE/12 increased by approximately 32.3 fold higher than that in solution. Such significant
fluorescence increase from the gels was probably ascribed to the formation of more ordered
assemblies in gel state. The organogels showed thermo-reversible property. For example after
slowly heating TPE/12 gel in EA to the higher temperature, the solution became clear. On cooling
to room temperature, immobile gels was formed again (Fig. S16). The fluorescence intensity of
the gel could be reversibly controlled with the gel solution transition by alternate cooling and
heating process (Fig. S15). These switchable fluorescent organogels could have potentials as
information storage devices [49-51].
2.4.3. AIE in aggregate states
AIE properties of these compounds in aggregate states were studied in a mixture solution of
THF/water. The fluorescence intensity of 10 μm TPE/14 in THF/water mixture with different
water contents were recorded by PL spectra. As shown in Fig. S17, the fluorescence intensity was
very weak and changed little as the water fraction of the THF/water mixture increased from 0% to
20%. After the water fraction reached >20%, the fluorescence intensity largely increased with the
increase the water fraction up to 90%, which was approximately 9-fold higher than that in the pure
THF. This indicated that the aggregates formed in the mixture. Dynamic light scattering
measurements unveiled that nanoparticles were formed in the solvent mixture, whereas the
diameter of the aggregates was determined to be 231 nm for TPE/14 in THF/water mixture with
fw = 90% (Fig. S18).
2.5. Polarized emission spectra and the dichroic ratio
In recent years, light-emission liquid crystal displays (LE-LCDs) [17d,52] are considered as
power efficient devices and are promising alternatives to conventional LCDs because they remove
the polarizers and color filters. To realize such devices, strong fluorescent materials with a
dichroic property are required. Combined with their liquid crystalline properties, TPE derivatives
showed moderate fluorescent emission in the solid state (ΦF = 20.5%), it can be predicted that
such AIE-active mesogens could be applied to fabricate LE-LCDs. In order to evaluate the
potential application of TPE/n in LE-LCD, TPE/18 as a representative compound was chosen to
dissolve in commercial nematic liquid crystal 5CB at a concentration of 0.5% w/w for studying
the dichroic ratio of polarized emission spectra in electric field-on (1 KHz, 8V) and electric

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field-off states (Fig. S19, S20) [53]. Then the dichroic ratios were measured to be 6.34 in the
electric field-off state (Fig. 4a) and about 1 in the electric field-on state (Fig. 4b). Based on this
polarized fluorescence measurements, it can be predicted that the LC mixture of TPE derivatives
and commercially available nematic LCs could be used to manufacture the LE-LCD.
(a)
(b)
Fig. 4. Polarized fluorescence spectra of light-emitting LC cell in (a) electric field-off (1 KHz, 8V) and (b) electric
field-on states. The dichroic ratio (NF) was determined from the formula: NF = F┴/F//, where F┴ and F// are the
rubbing direction of the LC cell perpendicular and parallel to the polarization direction of the detector,
respectively.
2.6. WLE in gel and PEG film
The pure TPE/12 gel exhibited cyan emission (400 nm - 600 nm). Its CIE coordinates were
found to be (0.22, 0.32) (Fig. S21). Therefore it could generate white light by blending orange
emission DPP derivative DPP/2C8 (3,6-di(2-thienyl)-2,5-dihydropyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4-dione)
[54]. The absorption spectrum of DPP/2C8 was between 262-575 nm (Fig. S22). The partial
overlap of spectrum was ideal for incorporating this DPP/2C8 into the gel of TPE for energy
transfer application and also for tuning the emission color. The gels were obtained by adding
DPP/2C8 into TPE/12 solution in EA (5 mg/mL). The dopped gels showed the changes in the
emission spectra from blue, green, white to orange under UV light with varying DPP/2C8 mole
ratio (Fig. 5a). After doping 20 μL of the DPP/2C8 with a concentration of 10-3 (M) into TPE/12,
the emission spectrum of the dopped gel covered the spectral range of 400-700 nm with three
emission peaks centered at 471 nm, 567 nm, and 607 nm, respectively (Fig. 5a). The commission
Internationale de L’eclairage (CIE) coordinates were found to be (0.32, 0.33) (Fig. S21), which
was quite close to that of ideal white light emission (0.33, 0.33) [55]. The morphologies of the
WLE gel were studied by SEM. The SEM image of the WLE xerogel showed tightly packed
nanospheres with diameter of 3 μm (Fig. 5b) which was different from the morphology of xerogel
of pure TPE/12 as shown in Fig. 2a.

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(a)
(b)
1
2
3
4
5
Fig. 5. (a) Changes in the emission spectra of TPE/12 gel in EA with varying DPP/2C8 mole ratio (1 gel: pure
TPE/12; 2 gel: TPE/12 with 4 μL DPP/2C8; 3 gel: TPE/12 with 20 μL DPP/2C8; 4 gel: TPE/12 with 100 μL
DPP/2C8; 5 gel: TPE/12 with 500 μL DPP/2C8, inset: photographs showing luminescent colors upon irradiation
with 365 nm light with different DPP/2C8 concentrations, (b) SEM images of the xerogels 3.
Considering WLE materials employed in displaying device and lighting systems most of solid
thin films [36,56], the solid-state optical properties of PEG film containing TPE/12+DPP/2C8 gel
was investigated. The PEG film containing TPE/12+DPP/2C8 gel (a concentration of 5% w/w)
was coated onto the surface of a commercial UV-LED flashlight (λem = 365 nm) [40]. The coated
film generated bright white light when the flashlight turned on (Fig. 6d, e, and Fig. S23). This film
also showed excellent photostability and it could still emit bright white light one month later at
ambient condition (Fig. S24).
(a)
(b)
(e)
(c)
(d)
Fig. 6. Photographs of UV-LED flashlight before (a) and after (c) being illuminated under nature light condition.
Photographs of UV-LED flashlight coated by the PEG film containing TPE/12+DPP/2C8 before (b) and after (d)
being illuminated in darkness. (e) CIE chromaticity coordinates of the coated UV-LED flashlight: a (0.33, 0.30).
3. Conclusion
Therefore discotic TPE based mesogens were synthesized efficiently via click reaction. By
elongation of the alkyl tails, a transition from the hexagonal columnar phase to the rarely observed
micellar body centered cubic phase with
lattice was observed. The
micellar cubic
Im3m
Im3m

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phase showed by such TPE mesogens would be of highly importance because it is the first
example of spherical thermotropic LC aggregates of TPE based derivatives. These AIE-active
TPE mesogens were polarized emitting and had dichroic ratio values up to 6.34 when mixed with
nematic LC 5CB. Remarkably the emission color of both pure TPE and the doped gel formed by
doping TPE with DPP dye were tunable by rising temperature or changing the ratio of the DPP
respectively. Most interesting white emission gels were firstly achieved by doping such TPEs with
DPP dye. Furthermore the doped gel exhibited stable white light emission in the PEG film. In one
word, our study should provide a prospective pathway for white light emission materials based on
AIE active TPE mesogens.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Nos. 21664015,
21865038 and 21602195], the program for Innovative Research Team (in Science and Technology)
University of Yunnan, China (2018FY001(-012)) and Yunnan Province Excellent Youth Training
Project (2018YDJQ030) for financial supports, the fund of the State Key Laboratory of Advanced
Technologyies for Comprehensive Utilization of Platinum Metals (SKL-SPM-201812). We thank
beamline 1W2A at Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF) and beamline BL16B1 at
Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF), China.
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Conflict of interest:
We declare that we do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents
a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted.
Graphical abstract

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AIE active TPE mesogens can dispaly p6mm columnar and
cubic mesophases with white
Im3m
light emission property.
Highlights
Designed AIE-active TPE mesogens could form hexagonal columnar phase and
cubic phase.
micellar
Im3m
White light emission organogel was obtained by doping such TPE mesogen with DPP dye.
The WLE gel can generate stable white light emission in poly(ethylene glycol) film.