Self-assembly of chiral mesostructured AIEgens-silica nanotubes with optical activities

Tetraphenylethylene (TPE) and its derivatives, the typical aggregation-induced emission (AIE) luminogens, exhibit unique chirality in the condensed phase due to their propeller-shaped structure. However, precisely regulating the chiral assembly of TPE and its derivatives is challenging, owing to their inherent spontaneous self-assembly behavior. Herein, we report the controllable self-assembly of the chiral mesostructured AIEgens-silica (CMAS) via a co-structure directing route, using 2-[4-(1,2,2-triphenylethenyl) phenoxy]-acetic acid (TPEA) as a structure-directing agent, binaphthol as a symmetry-breaking agent, quaternized aminosilane N-trimethoxysilylpropyl-N,N,N-trimethylammonium chloride as the co-structure directing agent, and tetraethyl orthosilicate as the inorganic source. The CMAS materials were characterized by nanotubes with lengths ranging from hundreds of nanometers to dozens of micrometers and diameters of 150–300 nm. The CMAS materials exhibited optical activities originating from J-aggregates, which possess a one-handed excess helical conformation of TPEA induced by binaphthol. Our work elucidates the underlying mechanisms of chirality transfer during self-assembly and expands the potential applications of AIEgens in chiral response.