Charge-Rearrangement Averaged Dye Design for Precise, Real-Time, and Portable Monitoring of Complex Solvent
Zhongyu Li1, Smruti R Sahoo2,3, Shen Shen1
1State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China.
Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English)
|August 22, 2025
Summary
New dyes offer precise visual tracking of mixed solvents, overcoming limitations of traditional solvatochromic materials. This innovation enables accurate monitoring of complex solvent environments and heterogeneous detection with reusable polymers.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Photochemistry
- Analytical Chemistry
Background:
- Solvatochromic materials visually differentiate solvents but lack precision in dynamic, complex mixtures due to insensitive absorption shifts.
- Existing fluorescence-based methods are inefficient for monitoring solvent environments owing to challenges in excited-state dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design novel dyes with efficient dual-fluorescence behavior for precise visualization of complex solvent compositions.
- To develop a reusable material for sensitive and accurate detection of solvent mixtures, specifically ethanol content.
Main Methods:
- A charge-rearrangement averaged dye design was employed, diverging from traditional donor-acceptor structures.
- The dyes were integrated into a crosslinked polymer matrix for heterogeneous detection and reusability.
- A portable material was developed for self-calibrated visual tracking using mobile phone photography and user-friendly software analysis.
Main Results:
- The new dye design achieved high locally excited or twisted intramolecular charge transfer emission efficiency.
- Ratiometric dual-fluorescence behavior was observed, with a solvent-dependent emission trade-off instead of quenching.
- The integrated material demonstrated precise visual tracking of ethanol content (error < 0.2%) in E10 ethanol gasoline with a robust working curve (R² = 0.9992).
- The material supported over hundreds of reuse cycles.
Conclusions:
- The developed charge-rearrangement averaged dyes enable efficient dual-fluorescence emission, suitable for precise visualization of mixed solvents.
- The reusable polymer-integrated material offers a robust platform for heterogeneous detection and accurate, self-calibrated monitoring of solvent composition.
- This technology provides a user-friendly and portable solution for real-time analysis of complex solvent environments, exemplified by ethanol gasoline monitoring.
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