Self-assembly of AIEgens

Self-assembly is an essential process in nature and important in the field of material science, biology and chemistry. Study on self-assembly has lasted for more than 100 years and has resulted in the emergence of many specific research areas, such as marriage of self-assembly to the burgeoning aggregation-induced emission (AIE). Thanks to their fascinating photophysical properties, AIE luminogens (AIEgens) have shown great potential in this area. In this review, we mainly highlight recent advances in monocomponent self-assembly of AIEgens, including self-assembly of amphiphilic AIEgens and chiral AIEgens, host–guest interaction and their applications in circularly-polarized luminescence and light-harvesting platform. Due to the AIE effect, functional AIEgens possess inherent advantage to visualize the fine process of self-assembly. Moreover, attention is also given to well-defined architectures, such as spherical vesicles, helical nanostructures, and nanofibers obtained through self-assembly of AIEgens. The present review may entice readers to realize the importance of self-assembly and attract much more chemists to give their contribution to this area.