Perylene diimide based fluorescent sensors for drug simulant detection

Luminescence-based sensing has been demonstrated to be a powerful method for rapid trace detection of chemical vapours. In this presentation we will describe the development of a family of perylene diimide-based sensing materials capable of undergoing photoinduced hole transfer with amine-group containing analytes, such as drugs. We will show that the choice of branched solubilising alkyl chain attached to the nitrogen atoms of the imide moiety strongly affects the solution-processed film morphology and the resulting photophysical and sensing properties. In particular, we will discuss how different film morphologies significantly affects the exciton diffusion coefficients and that when the films were used to detect N-methylphenethylamine (MPEA), a simulant of methamphetamine, there was a trade-off between a high exciton diffusion coefficient and analyte vapour uptake.