Aggregation-induced emission luminogens for super-resolution imaging

Abstract

Over the past three decades, humanity has successfully surpassed Abbe's diffraction limit through the development of super-resolution microscopy (SRM), which leads to an increasing demand for specialized fluorescent molecules. The concept of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) has emerged as a powerful tool in fluorescence imaging since its inception in 2001. While thousands of distinctive AIE-based fluorescent molecules have been extensively utilized, their application in SRM was not explored until 2013. Although fewer than one hundred works on AIE and SRM have been published so far, this field is experiencing rapid growth. This review provides a comprehensive summary of advancements made by these intersecting domains over the last decade. The recent research is outlined, and four future directions are highlighted to guide the design of high-quality AIE-based probes for SRM applications that can further advance and promote this exciting area of research.