Aggregation-induced
emission (AIE) imaging probes have recently
received considerable attention because of their unique property of
high performance in the aggregated state and their imaging capability.
However, the tendency of AIE molecules to aggregate into micron long
irregular shapes, which significantly limits their application in
vivo, is becoming a serious issue that needs to be addressed. Here,
we introduce a novel engineering strategy to tune the morphology and
size of AIE nanoaggregates, based on flash nanoprecipitation (FNP).
Quinolinemalononitrile (ED) is encapsulated inside properly selected
amphiphilic block copolymers of varying concentration. This leads
to a variety of ED particle morphologies with different sizes. The
shape and size are found to have strong influences on tumor targeting
both in vitro and in vivo. The current results therefore indicate
that the FNP method together with optimal choice of an amphiphilic
copolymer is a universal method to systematically control the aggregation
state of AIE materials and hence tune the morphology and size of AIE
nanoaggregates, which is potentially useful for precise imaging at
specific tumor sites
