Fluorescent sensors are indispensable tools in fields such as molecular biology, clinical diagnostics, biotechnology, and environmental monitoring, due to their high sensitivity, selectivity, biocompatibility, rapid response, and ease of use. However, conventional fluorophores often suffer from aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ), leading to diminished fluorescence in the aggregated state. The advent of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) luminogens, which exhibit enhanced fluorescence upon aggregation, offers a powerful solution to this limitation. Their unique photophysical properties have made AIE-based materials highly valuable for diverse applications, including biomedical imaging, optoelectronics, stimuli-responsive systems, drug delivery, and chemical sensing. Notably, AIE-based fluorescent probes are emerging as attractive alternatives to traditional analytical methods owing to their low cost, fast detection, and high selectivity. Over the past two decades, considerable progress has been made in the rational design and development of AIE-active small-molecule fluorescent probes for detecting a wide variety of analytes, such as biologically relevant molecules, drug compounds, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), explosives, and contaminants associated with forensic and food safety analysis. This review highlights recent advances in organic AIE-based fluorescent probes, beginning with the fundamentals of AIE and typical “turn-on” sensing mechanisms, and concluding with a discussion of current challenges and future opportunities in this rapidly evolving research area.

The synthesis of a novel eco-friendly anionic Gemini surfactant, pursuing three parameters of green chemistry: economic, environmental factor, and mass reaction efficiency is developed as a corrosion inhibitor for AZ31 Mg alloy. Herein, the corrosion inhibition ability of novel EDTA-based dimeric surfactant on AZ31 Mg alloy in corrosive media with varying concentrations of NaCl and Na₂SO₄ at temperatures between 30–50 °C were studied. The surfactant’s molecular structure is affirmed by FT-IR, NMR, and LC–MS techniques. Electrochemical techniques and surface morphology were employed to evaluate the corrosion inhibition efficiency. The inhibitor studied exhibited appreciable corrosion inhibition at 30 °C. The surfactant shows physical adsorption as per the data obtained in the Gibbs free energy and enthalpy of adsorption studies. The adsorption of the inhibitor was found to be a film-like layer on the surface of AZ31 Mg alloy and, is confirmed by SEM–EDX and XPS techniques. In addition, theoretical simulations were performed to compare with experimental results. Conclusively, the work provides a deeper understanding of the intricacies involved in the development of a new anionic dimeric surfactant as an effective corrosion inhibitor.