One-pot synthesis of AIE based bismuth sulfide nanotheranostics for fluorescence imaging and photothermal therapy.

•Aggregation Induced Emission (AIE) based Bi2S3 nanotheranostics were facilely fabricated in one pot.•The nanotheranostics demonstrate excellent performance in cellular imaging and photothermal therapy.•This approach was versatile for preparation of other fluorescent nanotheranostics.