Conjugated Polymers with Aggregation‐Induced Emission Characteristics for Fluorescence Imaging and Photodynamic Therapy

Accurate diagnosis and treatment have been extensively developed in the field of biomedicine, which put forward higher requirements for the development of biomedical materials with high efficiency and selectivity. Among them, conjugated polymers featuring aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics (AIE conjugated polymers) have stood out in recent years owing to their unique properties, such as intense solid emission, high light-harvesting ability, efficient energy transfer, and high 1 O2 generation ability, which empower them with effective biomedical functions in fluorescence imaging (FLI), photodynamic therapy (PDT), FLI-guided PDT, two-photon excited photodynamic therapy (2PE-PDT), etc. In this review, we highlight recent progress in AIE conjugated polymers and their applications in anticancer and antibacterial areas based on FLI and PDT, and summarize the mechanism of color-tuned fluorescence emission and efficient 1 O2 generation ability. The challenges and perspectives for the future development of AIE conjugated polymers are also discussed.