Scaffold-Free Efficient\nLight-Harvesting Nanoparticles\nBased on One-Pot Self-Assembly of Donor–Acceptor Aggregation-Induced\nEmission Luminogens

Constructing\nhighly efficient artificial light-harvesting (LH)\nsystems via a scaffold-free approach for capturing and utilizing light\nenergy to emulate photosynthesis-inspired energy transfer processes\nis a great challenge. Herein, we report an efficient light-harvesting\nnanoparticle (LHN) based on two derivatives of tetraphenylethylene\nas a donor/acceptor (D/A) pair in a skeleton compact and effective\nstacking prepared by simple ultrasound-assisted self-assembly within\n∼1 h in water for effective aggregation-induced emission (AIE)\neffect and intermolecular energy transfer. By simply adjusting the\nD/A mixture ratio, the LHN shows tunable multicolor emission (from\ncyan to near-infrared) with a remarkable energy transfer efficiency\nof 96.5% at a D/A ratio of 50:1 and attains a high antenna effect\nof 79.2 at a D/A ratio of 4000:1. Importantly, the LHN exhibits a\nnearly pure white light emission with color coordinates of (0.32,\n0.35) at a D/A ratio of 300:1 with a high quantum yield of 51%. Moreover,\nour LHN shows high biocompatibility and brightness for cellular imaging\nin MCF-7 cells over 3 days. Compared to the direct excitation of acceptors\nin the uptaken LHN, it shows an approximately 14-fold enhancement\nfor cell imaging brightness. This simple and effective fabrication\nstrategy opens up possibilities for large-scale AIEgen-based light-harvesting\nsystems as tunable multicolor luminescent materials and great potential\napplications in the fields of white light materials and real-time\ncellular imaging.