Multi stimuli-responsive aggregation-induced emission (AIE) active polymers have great application prospects in high-tech innovations. Herein, three types of tetraphenylethylene (TPE)-containing monomers were synthesized and utilized in preparing TPE-appended maleic anhydride terpolymers. After hydrolysis, the produced TPE-appended maleic acid terpolymers have identical linear charge densities but different "primary" structures, which created widely varied microenvironments around the carboxylate and TPE groups. Benefiting from the synergistic interaction of the TPE moiety and the terpolymer conformation change, the TPE-appended maleic acid terpolymers exhibited fluorescence changes in response to multi stimuli, including pH, ionic strength, Ca2+, and bovine serum albumin. On both the "signaling" and the "stimuli acceptor" sides, the multi stimuli-responsive fluorescence behavior was influenced markedly by the terpolymer primary structure. The fundamental insights gained in the present work are important for developing an efficient and versatile stimuli-responsive AIE-active polymer platform for chemo-sensing, bioimaging, and so on.
Keywords: aggregation-induced emission; fluorescence; maleic anhydride; stimuli responsive; tetraphenylethylene.