Sustainable production of BioAIE materials from biomass

Abstract The research of aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) materials has aroused extensive interests during the past 20 years. Until recently, biomass‐inspired AIE (BioAIE) materials have become highly attractive owing to the advantages of natural structural diversity, renewability, biocompatibility, and biodegradability of the biomass. In this concept, we focus on the sustainable production of BioAIE materials from biomass resources (biomacromolecules and small natural products) through extraction, chemical conversion, and physical conversion. Chemical conversion is especially stated, including catalytic conversion, schiff base reaction, “in water” reaction, and other chemical modifications. The luminescence mechanism of AIE behaviors along with their structure–property relationships is emphasized, and the applications are addressed as well. An outlook is provided to highlight the challenges and opportunities associated with the future development trend in this field.