On September 9, 2021, Jun XIA, Head of the Department of Medical Neuroscience at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), invited Professor Benzhong TANG, Dean of the School of Science and Engineering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen) and Academician of CAS, as a guest speaker of the SUSTech Lecture series.

His lecture, entitled “Aggregate Science: From Molecules, beyond Molecules,” was attended by Mingjie ZHANG, Dean of the School of Life Sciences at SUSTech, faculty members, and students. The event was presided over by Jun XIA.

In his lecture, Prof. Benzhong TANG talked about the properties, functions, and defects of aggregation-induced emission materials and traditional organic emission materials. He spoke in detail about how to discover aggregation-induced emission materials and emphasized the importance to question and challenge authority in the process of scientific research.

He said that AIE molecules could emit light in an aggregate state because the aggregate state inhibits the internal mechanical energy of the molecule. In doing so, the energy of the AIE molecules can be firmly released in the form of light energy instead of mechanical energy during the transition from the excited state to the ground state. As a result, AIE molecules have a high degree of optical stability in the form of aggregation.

This feature of AIE material has led to significant applications in OLED, cancer imaging and diagnostic applications, environmental monitoring, and medical and bacteriological monitoring.

After the lecture, Prof. TANG held discussions with faculty members and students and answered their questions on the relevant topic. Jun XIA also presented Benzhong TANG with a commemorative certificate for participating in the SUSTech Lecture series.