Ben Zhong Tang 唐本忠

Member, The Chinese Academy of Sciences 中国科学院院士

Academician, Asia Pacific Academy of Materials 亚太材料科学院院士

Fellow, World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries 发展中国家世界科学院院士

Chair Professor, Department of Chemistry

The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST)

Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

Phone: +852-2358-7375 (office: Rm. CYT-6002); E-mail: tangbenz@ust.hk

Link to the homepage of Tang Research Group

Link to Google Scholar Profile of Ben Zhong Tang

Link to Author Profile of Ben Zhong Tang

Link to the Themed Issue on Aggregation-Induced Emission in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.

---

Ben Zhong Tang is Stephen K. C. Cheong Professor of Science, Chair Professor of Chemistry, and Chair Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST). His research interests include materials science, macromolecular chemistry, and biomedical theranostics. His lab is spearheading the study of aggregation-induced emission (AIE).

Tang received BS and PhD degrees from South China University of Technology and Kyoto University, respectively. He conducted postdoctoral research at University of Toronto. He joined HKUST as an assistant professor in 1994 and was promoted to chair professor in 2008. He was elected to Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Asia Pacific Academy of Materials (APAM), and World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries (TWAS).

Tang has published >1,350 papers. His publications have been cited >96,300 times, with an h-index of 143. He has been listed by Clarivate Analytics as Highly Cited Researcher in both areas of Chemistry and Materials Science since 2014. He received State Natural Science Award (1st Class) from Chinese Government (2017), Scientific and Technological Progress Award from Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation (2017), Senior Research Fellowship from Croucher Foundation (2007), etc. He is now serving as Editor-in-Chief of Materials Chemistry Frontiers (RSC & CCS).

(1) Academic Qualifications

(2) Professional Services

(3) Examples of Review Articles

(4) Examples of Recent Publications

(5) Useful Links

(1) Academic Qualifications

12/2012–present Stephen K. C. Cheong Professor of Science, HKUST
07/2008–present Chair Professor, Department of Chemistry, HKUST

07/1994–06/2008 Assistant/Associate/Full Professor, Department of Chemistry, HKUST
04/1989–06/1994 Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
04/1983–03/1988 PhD, Department of Polymer Chemistry, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
02/1978–01/1982 BS, Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, South China University of Technology

(2) Scientific Honors and Professional Services

• Listed as a Highly Cited Researcher in Chemistry by Clarivate Analytics (2014–2019)
• Listed as a Highly Cited Researcher in Materials Science by Clarivate Analytics (2014–2019)
• Fellow, World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries (2020)
• Fellow, Chinese Chemical Society (CCS; 2020)
• Fellow, International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering (IUSBSE; 2020)
• CCTV Science & Technology Innovation Figures Award (2018)
• Academician, Asia Pacific Academy of Materials (2017)
• State Natural Science Award (1st Class), Chinese Government (2017)
• Scientific and Technological Progress Award, The Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation (2017)
• Honorary Citizen of the City of Guangzhou 广州市荣誉市民 (2015)
• Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC; 2013)
• Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; 2009)
• State Natural Science Award (2nd Class), Chinese Government (2007)
• Croucher Senior Research Fellowship Award, Croucher Foundation (2007)
• Editor-in-Chief, Materials Chemistry Frontiers published by Royal Society of Chemistry & Chinese Chemical Society
• Editor-in-Chief, RSC Polymer Chemistry Series, published by Royal Society of Chemistry
• Editor, Advances in Polymer Science, Published by Springer
• Editor, Science China Chemistry, Published by Springer
• Associate Editor, Progress in Chemistry, published by Chinese Academy of Sciences

(3) Selected Examples of Invited Review Articles

1. Aggregation-Induced Emission: New Vistas at Aggregate Level Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, in press.
2. Polymerization-Induced Emission Mater. Horiz. 2020, in press.
3. Circularly Polarized Luminescence from AIEgens J. Mater. Chem. C 2020, in press.
4. Supramolecular Materials Based on AIE Luminogens: Constructions and Applications Chem. Soc. Rev. 2020, 49, 1144.
5. Clusterization-Triggered Emission: Uncommon Luminescence from Common Materials Mater. Today 2020, 32, 275.
6. Assembled Organic Agents for Fluorescence and Photoacoustic Bioimaging Chem. Soc. Rev. 2020, 49, 21.
7. AIE Polymers: Synthesis and Applications Prog. Polym. Sci. 2020, 100, 101176.
8. Self-assembly of AIEgens Coord. Chem. Rev. 2020, 406, 213142.
9. AIE-Based Cancer Theranostics Coord. Chem. Rev. 2020, 402, 213076.
10. Sparks Fly When AIE Meets with Polymers Mater. Chem. Front. 2019, 3, 2207.
11. AIE Luminogens for Activity-Based Sensing Acc. Chem. Res. 2019, 2559.
12. Molecular Motion in the Solid State ACS Mater. Lett. 2019, 1, 425.
13. Structure, Assembly, and Function of (Latent)-Chiral AIEgens ACS Mater. Lett. 2019, 1, 192.
14. AIE-Based Theranostic Systems for Detection and Killing of Pathogens Theranostics 2019, 9, 3223.
15. Aggregation-Induced Emission: Fundamental Understanding and Future Developments Mater. Horiz. 2019, 6, 428.
16. Macrocycles and Cages Based on Tetraphenylethylene with Aggregation-Induced Emission Effect Chem. Soc. Rev. 2018, 47, 7452.
17. Journey of Aggregation-Induced Emission Research ACS Omega 2018, 3, 3267.
18. Polymerizations Based on Triple-Bond Building Blocks Prog. Polym. Sci. 2018, 78, 92.
19. AIEgens for Biological Process Monitoring and Disease Theranostics Biomaterials 2017, 146, 115.
20. AIE Luminogens for Bioimaging and Theranostics: from Organelles to Animals Chem 2017, 3, 56.
21. Functionality and Versatility of Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) Luminogens Appl. Phys. Rev. 2017, 4, 021307.
22. Circularly-Polarized Luminescence (CPL) from Chiral AIE Molecules and Macrostructures Small 2016, 12, 6495.
23. Organic Dots Based on AIEgens for Two-Photon Fluorescence Bioimaging Small 2017, 13, 6430.
24. Kinetic Trapping–A Strategy for Directing the Self-assembly of Unique Functional Nanostructures Chem. Commun. 2016, 52, 11870.
25. Fabrication of Fluorescent Nanoparticles Based on AIE Luminogens (AIE Dots) and Their Applications in Bioimaging Mater. Horiz. 2016, 3, 283.
26. Aggregation-Induced Emission: Together We Shine, United We Soar! Chem. Rev. 2015, 115, 11718.
27. Aggregation-Induced Emission of Siloles Chem. Sci. 2015, 6, 5347.
28. Mechanochromic Luminescence of Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogens J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2015, 6, 3429.
29. AIE Luminogens: Emission Brightened by Aggregation Mater. Today 2015, 18, 365.
30. Multicomponent Polymerization of Alkynes Adv. Polym. Sci. 2015, 269, 17.
31. Biosensing by Luminogens with Aggregation-Induced Emission Characteristics Chem. Soc. Rev. 2015, 44, 4228.
32. Specific Light-up Bioprobes Based on AIEgen Conjugates Chem. Soc. Rev. 2015, 44, 2798.
33. Aggregation-Induced Emission: The Whole Is More Brilliant than the Parts Adv. Mater. 2014, 26, 5429.
34. AIE Macromolecules: Syntheses, Structures and Functionalities Chem. Soc. Rev. 2014, 43, 4494.
35. Bioprobes Based on AIE Fluorogens Acc. Chem. Res. 2013, 46, 2441.
36. Luminogenic Polymers with Aggregation-Induced Emission Characteristics Prog. Polym. Sci. 2012, 37, 182.
37. Aggregation-Induced Emission Chem. Soc. Rev. 2011, 40, 5361.
38. Click Polymerization Chem. Soc. Rev. 2010, 39, 2522.

(4) Selected Examples of Recent Publications (>1,300 papers)

2020

1. Design of AIEgens for Near-Infrared IIb Imaging through Structural Modulation at Molecular and Morphological Levels Nature Commun. 2020, in press.

2. Three-Pronged Attack by Homologous Far-Red/NIR AIEgens to Achieve ‘1+1+1>3’ Synergistic Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, in press.
3. Multifunctional Au(I)-based AIEgens: Manipulating Molecular Structures and Boosting Specific Cancer Cell Imaging and Theranostics Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, in press.
4. AIE Conjugated Polymer with Ultra-strong ROS Generation Ability and Great Biosafety for Efficient Therapy of Bacterial Infection Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, in press.
5. Achieving Efficient Multichannel Conductance in Through-Space Conjugated Single-Molecule Parallel Circuits Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, in press.
6. Crystallization-Induced Reverse from Dark to Bright Excited Statesfor Construction of Solid-Emission-Tunable Squaraines Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, in press.
7. Dancing Brightly Under Light: Intriguing Photomechanical Luminescence in Constructing Through-Space Conjugated AIEgens Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, in press.
8. Fluorescence Self-Reporting Precipitation Polymerization Based on Aggregation-Induced Emission for Constructing Optical Nanoagents Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, in press.
9. New Wine in Old Bottle: Prolonging Room-Temperature Phosphorescence of Crown Ethers by Supramolecular Interactions Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, in press.
10. Unusual Through-Space Interactions between Oxygen Atoms Mediate Inverse Morphochromism of an AIE Luminogen Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, in press.
11. Time-dependent Photodynamic Therapy for Multiple Targets: A Highly Efficient AIE-active Photosensitizer for Selective Bacterial Elimination and Cancer Cell Ablation Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, in press.
12. A Conjugated Polymeric Supramolecular Network with Aggregation‐Induced Emission Enhancement: An Efficient Light-Harvesting System with an Ultrahigh Antenna Effect Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, in press.
13. Bioinspired Simultaneous Changes in Fluorescence Color, Brightness and Shape of Hydrogels Enabled by AIEgens Adv. Mater. 2020, 32, in press.
14. A Multifunctional Bipolar Luminogen with Delayed Fluorescence for High-Performance Monochromatic and Color-Stable Warm-White OLEDs Adv. Funct. Mater. 2020, in press.
15. Mechanistic Study on High Efficiency Deep Blue AIE‐Based Organic Light‐Emitting Diodes by Magneto‐Electroluminescence Adv. Funct. Mater. 2020, in press.
16. Constitutional Isomerization Enables Bright NIR-II AIEgen for Brain-Inflammation Imaging Adv. Funct. Mater. 2020, in press.
17. Mechanistic Study on High Efficiency Deep Blue AIE‐Based Organic Light‐Emitting Diodes by Magneto‐Electroluminescence Adv. Funct. Mater. 2020, in press.
18. Type I Photosensitizers Based on Phosphindole Oxide for Photodynamic Therapy: Apoptosis and Autophagy Induced by Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Chem. Sci. 2020, in press.
19. In Vivo Monitoring Tissue Regeneration by A Ratiometric Lysosomal AIE Probe Chem. Sci. 2020, in press.
20. Less is More: Silver-AIE Core@Shell Nanoparticles for Multimodality Cancer Imaging and Synergistic Therapy Biomaterials 2020, in press.
21. Highly Efficient Singlet Oxygen Generation, Two-Photon Photodynamic Therapy and Melanoma Ablation by Rationally Designed Mitochondria-Specific Near-Infrared AIEgens Chem. Sci. 2020, in press.
22. Polymorph Selectivity of AIE Luminogen under Nano-Confinement to Visualize Polymer Microstructure Chem. Sci. 2020, in press.
23. Polymorph Selectivity of AIE Luminogen under Nano-Confinement to Visualize Polymer Microstructure Chem. Sci. 2020, in press.
24. Manipulating Solid-State Intramolecular Motion towards Controlled Fluorescence Patterns ACS Nano 2020, in press.
25. Efficient Near-Infrared Photosensitizer with Aggregation-Induced Emission for Imaging-Guided Photodynamic Therapy in Multiple Xenograft Tumor Models ACS Nano 2020, in press.

26. Phage-Guided Targeting, Discriminated Imaging and Synergistic Killing of Bacteria by AIE Bioconjugates J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 3959.
27. Economic Sulfur Conversion to Functional Polythioamides Through Catalyst-free Multicomponent Polymerizations of Sulfur, Acids, and Amines J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 978.
28. Time-Dependent Solid-State Molecular Motion and Colour Tuning of Host-Guest Systems by Organic Solvents Nature Commun. 2020, 11, 77.
29. Multicolor Tunable Polymeric Nanoparticle from Tetraphenylethylene-Cage for Temperature Sensing in Living Cells J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 512.
30. Red AIE-Active Fluorescent Probes with Tunable Organelle-Specific Targeting Adv. Funct. Mater. 2020, 30, 1909268.
31. Identification and Single-Cell Analysis of Viable Circulating Tumor Cells by a Mitochondrion-Specific AIE Bioprobe Adv. Sci. 2020, 7, 1902760.
32. A “Simple” Donor-Acceptor AIEgen with Multi-Stimuli Responsive Behavior Mater. Horiz. 2020, 7, 135.
33. Boosting the Photodynamic Therapy Efficiency by Using Stimuli-Responsive and AIE-featured Nanoparticles Biomaterials 2020, 232, 119749.
34. Ultrafast Discrimination of Gram-Positive Bacteria and Highly Efficient Photodynamic Antibacterial Therapy Using Near-Infrared Photosensitizer with Aggregation-Induced Emission Characteristics Biomaterials 2020, 230, 119582.
35. Selective Viable Cell Discrimination by a Conjugated Polymer Featuring Aggregation-Induced Emission Characteristic Biomaterials 2020, 230, 119658.

2019

36. Photoresponsive Spiro-polymers Generated In Situ by C–H-Activated Polyspiroannulation Nature Commun. 2019, 10, 5483.

37. Ultralong UV/Mechano-Excited Room Temperature Phosphorescence from Purely Organic Cluster Excitons Nature Commun. 2019, 10, 5161.
38. Non-aromatic Annulene-Based AIE System via Aromaticity Reversal Process Nature Commun. 2019, 10, 2952.
39. Zhao, W.; Cheung, T. S.; Jiang, N.; Huang, W.; Lam, J. W. Y.; Zhang, X.; He, Z.; Tang, B. Z. “Boosting the Efficiency of Organic Persistent Room-Temperature Phosphorescence by Intramolecular Triplet-Triplet Energy Transfer” Nature Commun. 2019, 10, 1595.
40. Highly Efficient Photothermal Nanoagent Achieved by Harvesting Energy via Excited-State Intramolecular Motion within Nanoparticles Nature Commun. 2019, 10, 768.
41. Boosting Fluorescence-Photoacoustic-Raman Properties in One Fluorophore for Precise Cancer Surgery Chem 2019, 5, 2657.
42. Dual-Color Emissive AIEgen for Specific and Label-Free Double-Stranded DNA Recognition and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Detection J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 20097.
43. Evaluation of Structure-Function Relationships of Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogens for Simultaneous Dual Applications of Specific Discrimination and Efficient Photodynamic Killing of Gram-Positive Bacteria J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 16781.
44. Functionalized Acrylonitriles with Aggregation-Induced Emission: Structure Tuning by Simple Reaction-Condition Variation, Efficient Red Emission, and Two-Photon Bioimaging J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 15111.
45. Three-Component Regio- and Stereoselective Polymerizations towards Functional Chalcogen-Rich Polymers with AIE-Activities J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 14712.
46. Multiple Anti-counterfeiting Guarantees from a Simple Tetraphenylethylene Derivative–High-contrasted and Multi-state Mechanochromism and Photochormism Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 17814.
47. Restriction of Access to Dark State: A New Mechanistic Model for Heteroatom-Containing AIE Systems Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 14911.
48. A Functioning Macroscopic ‘Rubik's Cube’ Assembled via Controllable Dynamic Covalent Interactions Adv. Mater. 2019, 31, 1902365.
49. Tailoring the Molecular Properties with Isomerism Effect of AIEgens Adv. Funct. Mater. 2019, 29, 1903834.
50. Aggregation-Induced Nonlinear Optical Effects of AIEgen Nanocrystals for Ultra-Deep In Vivo Bio-Imaging Adv. Mater. 2019, 31, 1904799.
51. A New Strategy towards ‘Simple’ Water-soluble AIE Probes for Hypoxia Detection Adv. Funct. Mater. 2019, 29, 1903278.
52. AIE-Active Functionalized Acrylonitriles: Structure Tuning by Simple Reaction-Condition Variation, Efficient Red Emission and Two-Photon Bioimaging J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, in press.
53. Three-Component Regio- and Stereoselective Polymerizations towards Functional Chalcogen-Rich Polymers with AIE-Activities J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, in press.
54. Restriction of Access to Dark State: A New Mechanistic Model for Heteroatom-Containing AIE Systems Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, in press.
55. AEE Conjugated Polymeric Supramolecular Network: an Efficient Light-Harvesting System with Ultrahigh Antenna Effect Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, in press.
56. Boosting Fluorescence-Photoacoustic-Raman Properties in One Fluorophore for Precise Cancer Surgery Chem 2019, in press.
57. Aggregation-Induced Nonlinear Optical Effects of AIEgen Nanocrystals for Ultra-Deep In Vivo Bio-Imaging Adv. Mater. 2019, in press.
58. A Functioning Macroscopic ‘Rubik's Cube®’ Assembled via Controllable Dynamic Covalent Interactions Adv. Mater. 2019, in press.
59. Tailoring the Molecular Properties with Isomerism Effect of AIEgens Adv. Funct. Mater. 2019, in press.
60. A New Strategy towards ‘Simple’ Water-Soluble AIE Probes for Hypoxia Detection Adv. Funct. Mater. 2019, 29, in press.
61. A ‘Simple’ Donor-Acceptor AIEgen with Multi-Stimuli Responsive Behavior Mater. Horiz. 2019, 6, in press.
62. A Smart AIEgen-Functionalized Surface with Reversible Modulation of Fluorescence and Wettability Mater. Horiz. 2019, 6, in press.
63. In-situ Generation of Azonia-containing Polyelectrolytes for Luminescent Photopatterning and Superbug Killing J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 11259.
64. Spiro-functionalized Diphenylethenes: Suppression of a Reversible Photocyclization Contributes to the Aggregation-Induced Emission Effect J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 9803.
65. A Dual-Functional Photosensitizer for Ultra-efficient Photodynamic Therapy and Synchronous Anticancer Efficacy Monitoring Adv. Funct. Mater. 2019, 29, 1902673
66. Visualization of Biogenic Amines and in-Vivo Ratiometric Mapping of Intestinal pH by AIE-active Polyheterocycles Synthesized by Metal-Free Multicomponent Polymerizations Adv. Funct. Mater. 2019, 29, 1902240.
67. Highly Efficient Photothermal Nanoagent Achieved by Harvesting Energy via Excited-State Intramolecular Motion within Nanoparticles Nature Commun. 2019, 10, 768.
68. In-Situ Monitoring Apoptosis Process by A Self-Reporting Photosensitizer J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 5612.
69. Molecular Motion in Aggregates: Manipulating TICT for Boosting Photothermal Theranostics J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 5359.
70. Boosting Non-Radiative Decay to Do Useful Work: Development of Multi-Modality Theranostic System from AIEgen Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 5628.
71. Facile Synthesis of AIEgens with Wide Color Tunability for Cellular Imaging and Therapy Chem. Sci. 2019, 10, 3494.
72. Spontaneous and Fast Molecular Motion at Room Temperature in the Solid State Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 4536.
73. Multistimuli Response and Polymorphism of a Novel Tetraphenylethylene Derivative Adv. Funct. Mater. 2019, 29, 1900516.
74. AIE Featured InorganicOrganic Core@Shell Nanoparticles for High-Efficiency siRNA Delivery and Real-Time Monitoring Nano Lett. 2019, 19, 2272.
75. Real-Time Monitoring of Hierarchical Self-Assembly and Induction of Circularly Polarized Luminescence from Achiral Luminogens ACS Nano 2019, 13, 3618.
76. Facile Emission Color Tuning and Circularly Polarized Light Generation of Single Luminogen in Engineering Robust Forms Mater. Horiz. 2019, 6, 405.
77. Visualizing the Initial Step of Self-Assembly and the Phase Transition by Stereogenic Amphiphiles with Aggregation-Induced Emission ACS Nano 2019, 13, 839.
78. AIE Multinuclear Ir(III) Complexes for Biocompatible Organic Nanoparticles with Highly Enhanced Photodynamic Performance Adv. Sci. 2019, 6, 1802050.
79. Guest-Triggered Aggregation-Induced Emission in Silver Chalcogenolate Cluster Metal-Organic Frameworks Adv. Sci. 2019, 6, 1801304.
80. A Two-Photon AIEgen for Simultaneous Dual-Color Imaging of Atherosclerotic Plaques Mater. Horiz. 2019, 6, 546.

2018

81. In Situ Monitoring of Molecular Aggregation Using Circular Dichroism Nature Commun. 2018, 9, 4961.
82. Highly Sensitive Switching of Solid-State Luminescence by Controlling Intersystem Crossing Nature Commun. 2018, 9, 3044.
83. A Facile Strategy for Realizing Room Temperature Phosphorescence and Single Molecule White Light Emission Nature Commun. 2018, 9, 2963.
84. Light-Driven Transformable Optical Agent with Adaptive Functions for Boosting Cancer Surgery Outcomes Nature Commun. 2018, 9, 1848.
85. A Simple Approach to Bioconjugation at Diverse Levels: Metal-Free Click Reactions of Activated Alkynes with Native Groups of Biotargets without Prefunctionalization Research 2018, 1, 3152870.
86. Redox-active AIEgen Derived Plasmonic and Fluorescent Core@shell Nanoparticles for Multimodality Bioimaging J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 6904.
87. Room Temperature One-Step Conversion from Elemental Sulfur to Functional Polythioureas through Catalyst-Free Multicomponent Polymerizations J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 6156.
88. Facile Multicomponent Polymerizations toward Unconventional Luminescent Polymers with Readily Openable Small Heterocycles J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 5588.
89. Multiple yet Controllable Photoswitching in a Single AIEgen System J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 1966.
90. Strategies to Enhance the Photosensitization: Polymerization and D/A Even-Odd Effect Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 15189.
91. Manipulation of Molecular Aggregation States to Realize Polymorphism, AIE, MCL, and TADF in a Single Molecule Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 12473.
92. A Versatile Molecular Design for High-Performance Nondoped OLEDs with ~100% Exciton Utilization and Negligible Efficiency Roll-Off Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 59, 9290.
93. Design Efficient and Ultralong Pure Organic Room-Temperature Phosphorescent Materials by Structural Isomerism Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 7997.
94. Making Invisible Visible: In Situ Monitoring the RAFT Polymerization by Tetraphenylethylene-Containing Agents with Aggregation-Induced Emission Characteristics Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 6274.
95. Fluorogenic Ag⁺-Tetrazolate Aggregation Enables Novel and Efficient Fluorescent Biological Silver Staining Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 5750.
96. A Facilely Accessible Ionic Aggregation-induced Emission Luminogen with Hydrogen Bonding Switchable Emission and Wash-free Imaging Ability Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 5011.
97. Red/NIR-Emissive Benzo[d]imidazole-Cored AIEgens: Facile Molecular Design for Wavelength Extending and In Vivo Tumor Metabolic Imaging Adv. Mater. 2018, 30, 1805220.
98. Dynamic Visualization of Stress/Strain Distribution and Fatigue Crack Propagation by an Organic Mechanoresponsive AIE Luminogen Adv. Mater. 2018, 30, 1803924.
99. Highly Efficient Photosensitizers with Far-Red/Near-Infrared Aggregation-Induced Emission for In Vitro and In Vivo Cancer Theranostics Adv. Mater. 2018, 30, 1802105.
100. Corannulene-Incorporated AIE Nanodots with Highly Suppressed Nonradiative Decay for Boosted Cancer Phototheranostics in Vivo Adv. Mater. 2018, 30, 1801065.
101. Real-Time and High-Resolution Bioimaging with Bright Aggregation-Induced Emission Dots in Short-Wave Infrared Region Adv. Mater. 2018, 30, 1706856.
102. Engineering Sensor Arrays Using Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogens for Pathogen Identification Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018, 28, 1805986.
103. A Bifunctional Aggregation-induced Emission Luminogen for Monitoring and Killing of Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018, 28, 1804632.
104. Mitochondria and Lysosomes-Targeted Synergistic Chemo-Photodynamic Therapy Associated with Self-Monitoring by Dual Light-Up Fluorescence Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018, 28, 1804362.
105. Caking-Inspired Cold Sintering of Plastic Supramolecular Films as Multifunctional Platforms Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018, 28, 1803370.
106. Efficient Bipolar Blue AIEgens for High-Performance Nondoped Blue OLEDs and Hybrid White OLEDs Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018, 28, 1803369.
107. A Substitution-dependant Light-up Fluorescence Probe for Selectively Detecting Fe³⁺ Ions and Its Cell Imaging Application Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018, 28, 1802833.
108. 1+1>>2: Dramatically Enhancing the Emission Efficiency of TPE-Based AIEgens but Keeping Their Emission Color through Tailored Alkyl Linkages Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018, 28, 1707210.
109. Efficient Red/Near-Infrared Fluorophores Based on Benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene 1,1,5,5-Tetraoxide for Targeted Photodynamic Therapy and in vivo Two-Photon Fluorescence Bioimaging Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018, 28, 1706945.
110. Mechanical Insights into Aggregation-Induced Delayed Fluorescence Materials with Anti-Kasha Behavior Adv. Sci. 2018, 5, 1801629.
111. Specific Discrimination of Gram-Positive Bacteria and Direct Visualization of Its Infection towards Mammalian Cells by A DPAN-Based AIEgen Biomaterials 2018, 187, 47.
112. Rational Design of Red AIEgens with New Core Structure from Non-Emissive Heteroaromatics Chem. Sci. 2018, 9, 7829.
113. Exploration of Biocompatible AIEgens from Natural Resources Chem. Sci. 2018, 9, 6497.
114. Facile Access to Deep red/Near-infrared Emissive AIEgens for Efficient Non-doped OLEDs Chem. Sci. 2018, 9, 6118.
115. Red-emissive Azabenzanthrone Derivatives for Photodynamic Therapy Irradiated with Ultralow Light Power Density and Two-Photon Imaging Chem. Sci. 2018, 9, 5165.
116. In Situ Generation of Photoactivatable Aggregation-Induced Emission Probes for Organelle-Specific Imaging Chem. Sci. 2018, 9, 5730.
117. Dual Fluorescence of Tetraphenylethylene-substituted Pyrenes with Aggregation-Induced Emission Characteristics for White-Light Emission Chem. Sci. 2018, 9, 5679.
118. Deciphering the Working Mechanism of Aggregation-Induced Emission of Tetraphenylethylene Derivatives by Ultrafast Spectroscopy Chem. Sci. 2018, 9, 4662.
119. Rational Design of A Water-Soluble NIR Aiegen, and Its Applications for Ultrafast Wash-Free Cellular Imaging and Photodynamic Cancer Cell Ablation Chem. Sci. 2018, 9, 3685.
120. Ultrabright Red AIEgens for Two-Photon Vascular Imaging with High Resolution and Deep Penetration Chem. Sci. 2018, 9, 2705.
121. Remarkable Multichannel Conductance of Novel Single-Molecule Wires Built on Through-Space Conjugated Hexaphenylbenzene Nano Lett. 2018, 18, 4200.
122. Rational Design of Perylenediimide-Substituted Triphenylethylene to Electron Transporting AIEgens with High Mobility and Near-Infrared Emission Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018, 28, 1705609.
123. Highly Efficient Circularly Polarized Electroluminescence from Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogens with Amplified Chirality and Delayed Fluorescence Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018, 28, 1800051.
124. Diversifed Photo/Electronic Functions Based on a Simple Chalcone Skeleton: Effects of Substitution Pattern and Molecular Packing Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018, 28, 1706506.
125. Malonitrile-Functionalized Tetraphenylpyrazine: Aggregation-Induced Emission, Ratiometric Detection of Hydrogen Sulfide and Mechanochromism Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018, 28, 1704689.
126. Multifunctional AIEgens: Ready Synthesis, Tunable Emission, Mechanochromism, Mitochondrial and Bacterial Imaging Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018, 28, 1704589.
127. Biochromic Silole Derivatives: A Single Dye for Differentiation, Quantitation and Imaging of Live/Dead Cells Mater. Horiz. 2018, 5, 969.
128. Single-Molecular Near-Infrared-II Theranostic System: Ultrastable Aggregation-Induced Emission Nanoparticles for Long-Term Tracing and Efficient Photothermal Therapy ACS Nano 2018, 12, 11282.
129. An Ultrasensitive Virion Immunoassay Platform with Dual-Modality Based on a Multifunctional Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogen ACS Nano 2018, 12, 9549.
130. Bright Near-Infrared Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogens with Strong Two-Photon Absorption, Excellent Organelle Specificity and Efficient Photodynamic Therapy ACS Nano 2018, 12, 8145.
131. Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogen with Near-Infrared-II Excitation and Near-Infrared-I Emission for Ultradeep Intravital Two-Photon Microscopy ACS Nano 2018, 12, 7936.

2017

132. White Light Emission from a Single Organic Molecule with Dual Phosphorescence at Room Temperature Nature Commun. 2017, 8, 8, 416.
133. Mitochondrial Imaging with Combined Fluorescence and Stimulated Raman Scattering Microscopy Using a Probe of Aggregation-Induced Emission Characteristic J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 17022.
134. Ionization and Anion-π+ Interaction: A New Strategy for Structural Design of Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogens J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 16974.
135. Why Do Simple Molecules with ‘Isolated’ Phenyl Rings Emit Visible Light? J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 16264.
136. Ultrafast Delivery of AIE Nanoparticles and Pure Organic Phosphorescent Nanocrystals by Saponin Encapsulation J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 14792.
137. Dramatic Differences in Aggregation-Induced Emission and Supramolecular Polymerizability of Tetraphenylethene-Based Stereoisomers J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 10150.
138. Metal-Free Multicomponent Tandem Polymerizations of Alkynes, Amines, and Formaldehyde toward Structure- and Sequence-Controlled Luminescent Polyheterocycles J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 5075.
139. Spontaneous Amino-Yne Click Polymerization: A Powerful Tool toward Regio-and Stereo-specific Poly(b-aminoacrylates) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 5437.
140. Highly Efficient Nondoped OLEDs with Negligible Efficiency Roll-Off Fabricated From Aggregation-Induced Delayed Fluorescence Luminogens Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 12971.
141. Multiscale Humidity Visualization by Environmental Sensitive Fluorescent Molecular Rotors Adv. Mater. 2017, 29, 1703900.
142. Furan Is Superior to Thiophene: A Furan-cored AIEgen with Remarkable Chromism and OLED Performance Adv. Sci. 2017, 4, 1700005.
143. AIE Nanoparticles with High Stimulated Emission Depletion Efficiency and Photobleaching Resistance for Long-Term Super-resolution Bioimaging Adv. Mater. 2017, 29, 1703643.
144. Facile Synthesis of Red/NIR AIE Luminogens with Simple Structures, Bright Emissions and High Photostabilities, and Their Applications for Specific Imaging of Lipid Droplets and Image-Guided Photodynamic Therapy Adv. Funct. Mater. 2017, 27, 1704039.
145. Robust Red Organic Nanoparticles for in vivo Fluorescence Imaging of Cancer Cell Progression in Xenografted Zebrafish Adv. Funct. Mater. 2017, 27, 1701418.
146. Mitochondrion-Anchoring Photosensitizer with Aggregation-Induced Emission Characteristics Synergistically Boosts the Radiosensitivity of Cancer Cells to Ionizing Radiation Adv. Mater. 2017, 29, 1606167.
147. Achieving High-Performance Nondoped OLEDs with Extremely Small Efficiency Roll-Off by Combining Aggregation-Induced Emission and Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Adv. Funct. Mater. 2017, 27, 201606458.
148. Tunable Mechanoresponsive Self-assembly of An Amide-Linked Dyad with Dual-Sensitivity of Photochromism and Mechanochromism Adv. Funct. Mater. 2017, 27, 1701210.
149. A Red-emissive Antibody-AIEgen Conjugate for Turn-on and Wash-free Imaging of Specific Cancer Cells Chem. Sci. 2017, 8, 7014.
150. Two-Photon AIE Bioprobe with Large Stokes Shift for Specific Imaging of Lipid Droplets Chem. Sci. 2017, 8, 5440.
151. Functionalized AIE Nanoparticles with Efficient Deep-red Emission, Mitochondria Specificity, Cancer Cell Selectivity and Multiphoton Susceptibility Chem. Sci. 2017, 8, 4634.
152. Light-Up Probe Based on AIEgens: Dual Signal Turn-On for Cascade Caspase Activation Monitoring Chem. Sci. 2017, 8, 2723.
153. Aggregation-Induced Emission: Mechanistic Study of Clusteroluminescence of Tetrathienylethene Chem. Sci. 2017, 8, 2629.
154. AIE-Active Theranostic System: Selective Staining and Killing of Cancer Cells Chem. Sci. 2017, 8, 1822.
155. Photoactivatable Aggregation-Induced Emission Probes for Lipid Droplets-Specific Live Cell Imaging Chem. Sci. 2017, 8, 1763.
156. AIEgen-Based Theranostic System: Targeted Imaging of Cancer Cells and Adjuvant Amplification of Antitumor Efficacy of Paclitaxel Chem. Sci. 2017, 8, 2191.
157. AIEgens for Dark through-Bond Energy Transfer: Design, Synthesis, Theoretical Study and Its Application in Ratiometric Hg²⁺ Sensing Chem. Sci. 2017, 8, 2047.
158. Organic Solid Fluorophores Regulated by Subtle Structure Modification: Color-Tunable and Aggregation-Induced Emission Chem. Sci. 2017, 8, 577.
159. Highly Stable Organic Small Molecular Nanoparticles as an Advanced and Biocompatible Phototheranostic Agent of Tumor in Living Mice ACS Nano 2017, 11, 7177–7188.
160. Nanocrystallization: A Unique Approach to Yield Bright Organic Nanocrystals for Biological Applications Adv. Mater. 2017, 29, 1604100 (1–6).

2016

161. Gelation Process Visualized by Aggregation-Induced Emission Fluorogens Nature Commun. 2016, 7, 12033.
162. Fluorescence Microscopy as an Alternative to Electron Microscopy for Microscale Dispersion Evaluation of Organic-Inorganic Composites Nature Commun. 2016, 7, 11811.
163. Real-Time Imaging of Cell Behaviors in Living Organisms by a Mitochondria Targeting AIE Fluorogen Adv. Funct. Mater. 2016, 26, 7132.
164. Activatable Fluorescent Nanoprobe with Aggregation-Induced Emission Characteristics for Selective In Vivo Imaging of Elevated Peroxynitrite Generation Adv. Mater. 2016, 28, 7249.
165. A Mitochondrion-Specific Photoactivatable Fluorescence Turn-on AIE-based Bioprobe for Localization Super-Resolution Microscope Adv. Mater. 2016, 28, 5064.
166. Synthesis of Imidazole-Based AIEgens with Wide Color Tunability and Exploration of Their Biological Applications Adv. Funct. Mater. 2016, 26, 824.
167. Rational Molecular Design for Achieving Persistent and Efficient Pure Organic Room Temperature Phosphorescence Chem 2016, 1, 592.
168. A Colour-Tunable Chiral AIEgen: Reversible Coordination, Enantiomer Discrimination and Morphology Visualization Chem. Sci. 2016, 7, 6106.
169. Luminescent Photonic Crystals with Multi-functionality and Tunability Chem. Sci. 2016, 7, 5692.

(5) Useful Links

• Links to Tang’s CNERC in Chinese and English
• Link to AIEgen Biotech Co., Ltd.
• Link to Tang’s Research Labs in X-Mol
• Link to SCUT-HKUST Joint Research Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 51640, China

Examples of Research Highlights

· Dr. Tang was honored by a festschrift in J. Polym. Sci. Part A: Polym. Chem. (2017, 55, 505–775).

· AIE research highlighted by a Nature News Feature Article “The nanolight revolution is coming” on 3 March 2016 (Nature 2016, 531, 26–28).

· The New York Times published a story about AIE research (“Unusual Molecules Shine Light on New Applications”) on 15 Feb 2016.

· Dr. Tang was honored by a festschrift in J. Inorg. Organomet. Polym. Mater. (2015, 25, 1–175).