Figure 1 | NPG Asia Materials

Figure 1

From: Coordination of the electrical and optical signals revealing nanochannels with an ‘onion-like’ gating mechanism and its sensing application

Figure 1

Schematic of the ionic current and fluorescent dual-signal-output nanochannels in the oligomerization process. The nanochannels are first modified with capture probes (4-aminophenylboronic acid (PBA)). In the presence of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) molecules ((1,2-diphenylethene-1,2-diyl) bis (1,4-phenylene)-1,1′-diboronic acid (TPEDB)), an oligomerization reaction between TPEDB and diol-contained glucose (Glu) occurs on the capture probe of the channel wall. With the reversible boronic acid-diol interaction occuring in nanochannels, the pathway for ion transport is blocked (upper panel), resulting in the sharp decrease of the ionic current (the close state). At the same time, when the TPEDB is oligomerized with glucose, the restriction of the intramolecular motion (RIM) process to fluorogen is activated (bottom panel); as a result, the emission is greatly boosted (fluorescence turned on).

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