title: Facile Preparation of Bright-Fluorescent Soft Materials from Small Organic Molecules.
abstract: Highly fluorescent and biocompatible soft materials are desirable for many potential applications, but their synthetic processes are somehow complicated. Herein, we have explored the feasibility of synthesis of unconventional fluorescence soft materials from small organic molecules under mild conditions. A new blue-fluorescent soft material with high quantum yield (89.6 %) and eutectic feature prepared by simple heat treatment of citric acid (CA) and cysteine (Cys) aqueous mixtures below 100 °C in air was reported. The as-prepared fluorescent material has the features of facile preparation, low cost, scalable production and easy to process, making it suitable for applications like fluorescent labeling and light-emitting devices. This new finding opens a new venue for the preparation of fluorescent soft materials.
authors.affiliation: Hubei Collaborative Innovation Centre for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Synthesis and Application of Organic Functional Molecules, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062, P.R. China. wanghx0917@163.com.
authors.forename: Hang-Xing
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5228-9270
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Hubei Collaborative Innovation Centre for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Synthesis and Application of Organic Functional Molecules, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ze
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7864-3389
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Hubei Collaborative Innovation Centre for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Synthesis and Application of Organic Functional Molecules, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhong-Guo
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5673-6813
authors.initials: ZG
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Hubei Collaborative Innovation Centre for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Synthesis and Application of Organic Functional Molecules, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jia-Yun
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7362-3327
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry (SKLAOC), Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials and Structure Design (MOE), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9480-9470
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry (SKLAOC), Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials and Structure Design (MOE), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, P.R. China. haoli.zhang@lzu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hao-Li
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6322-5202
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D019343:Citric Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D003545:Cysteine / Q000737:chemistry*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry; D005998:Glycine / Q000737:chemistry; D006016:Glycolates / Q000737:chemistry; D056951:Photoelectron Spectroscopy; D011789:Quantum Theory; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D055672:Static Electricity; D013499:Surface Properties; D013696:Temperature; D013864:Thioglycolates / Q000737:chemistry; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D005782:Gels; D006016:Glycolates; D013864:Thioglycolates; C031149:glycolic acid; D019343:Citric Acid; C017487:2-mercaptoacetate; D003545:Cysteine; D005998:Glycine
keywords: electrostatic interactions; fluorescence; gels; hydrogen bonds; synthetic methods