Reverse Thinking of Aggregation-Induced Emission Principle: Amplifying Molecular Motions to Boost Photothermal Efficiency of Nanofibers

Development of efficient photothermal nanofibers is of vital importance, but remaining a big challenge. Herein, with reverse thinking of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) principle, we demonstrate an ingenious and universal protocol for amplifying molecular motions to boost photothermal efficiency of nanofibers. Core-shell nanofibers having the olive oil solution of AIE-active molecules as the core surrounded by PVDF-HFP shell were constructed by coaxial electrospinning. The molecularly dissolved state of AIE-active molecules allows them to freely rotate and/or vibrate in nanofibers upon photoexcitation and thus significantly elevates the proportion of non-radiative energy dissipation, affording impressive heat-generating efficiency.