Integrating Time‐Resolved Imaging Information by Single‐Luminophore Dual Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence

The fact that the lifetime of photoluminescence often is difficult to access because of  the weakness of the emission signals, seriously limits the possibility to gain local bioimaging information in time-resolved luminescence probing. We herein aim to provide a solution to this problem by creating a general photophysical strategy based on the use of molecular probes designed for single-luminophore dual thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). The structural and conformational design makes the dual TADF strong both in diluted solution and in aggregated state, enabling less sensitivity to oxygen quenching and a unique dual-channel time-resolved imaging capability. As the two TADF signals show mutual complementarity during probing, a dual-channel mean lifetime mapping is established to reduce the time-resolved  imaging distortion by 30-40%. Consequently, the leading intracellular local imaging information is serialized and integrated as compared to any single time-resolved signal, leading to a significant improvement of the probing capacity.