As one class of the most important aggregation-induced emission materials

tetraphenylethylene derivatives have been widely used in organic light-emitting diodes and sensors with excellent photophysical and sensing properties. Tetraphenylethylene and 4-hexyloxybenzoic acid were combined together to synthesize a new compound with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) effect and self-assembly properties. In this work

the thermal

photophysical and selfassembly properties were mainly characterized by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy

fluorescence spectroscopy

thermal gravimetric analysis

differential scanning calorimetry

polarizing optical microscopy (POM)

and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the compound emitted strong fluorescence

possessed high thermal stability

exhibited thermotropic liquid crystalline phase and formed different selfassembly structures.