Recent Advances in AIE‐Active Polymers for Explosives Detection

ABSTRACT

Proactive monitoring and detection of explosives are necessary to better safeguard human lives and minimize damages to physical assets in the present context of increasing terrorism and geopolitical conflicts. While conventional approaches based on sampling and instrumental analysis remain highly robust, reliable, and sensitive, they may be complemented by optical chemosensors which are often easier to use, less expensive, faster, and more suitable for field deployment. There have been considerable interests in the development of fluorescent chemosensors for explosives detection over the past three decades, with the discovery of aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) in the early 2000s further accelerating progress in this field. Compared to small molecules, AIE polymeric chemosensors often exhibit amplified sensing responses, improved processability, and greater structural versatility, making them highly promising for use in real‐world sensing platforms. This review therefore highlights recent progress in AIE‐active polymers for explosive sensing from 2020 to the present, with particular emphasis on major classes of polymeric chemosensors, including conjugated and nonconjugated polymers, polymeric fluorescent nanoparticles, and coordination and supramolecular polymers. Key challenges and limitations will also be critically discussed, including restricted analyte scope and limited translational readiness for real‐world deployment, as well as prospects, such as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to guide materials development and enhance the deployment readiness of explosive detection technologies, moving forward.