Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) of Au(I)-GSH Complexes is Activated by Optical Manipulation and Exhibits Surprising 780 nm Emission

An optical manipulation method to activate the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) of Au(I)-glutathione (Au(I)-GSH) complexes is presented. First, the well-known AIE-type Au(I)-GSH complexes with a solid emission wavelength of 570 nm are synthesized. At the beginning of the focusing a 1064 nm continuous-wave (CW) laser at the interface of Au(I)-GSH complexes solution, its luminescence is hardly detectable. However, with the extension of the laser irradiation time, aggregate appears and rapidly grows, and strong luminescence is shown, indicating the activation of AIE of Au(I)-GSH complexes through optical manipulation. Surprisingly, the emission peak is at 780 nm and no blue-shift is observed with the emission intensity increases. The activated AIE emission wavelength by optical manipulation is longer than reported previously, which means that optical manipulation activates AIE in a unique manner. The switching on/off of the activation of AIE is arbitrarily controlled by changing the laser power. In this paper, the luminescence phenomenon and mechanism of AIE are discussed from the perspective of the movement limitation of Au(I)-GSH complexes under optical manipulation. It is of significant importance for further insights into the luminescence of Au(I)-GSH complexes and their future development. The aggregated-induced emission (AIE) properties of Au(I)-GSH complexes are activated by laser manipulation at the air-solution interface, exhibiting a different emission wavelength compared to traditional AIE.image