Preparation 2-(anthracen-9-yl)-1,3-dithiolane as a novel dual-channel AIE-active fluorescent probe for mercury (II) ion with excellent performance

•The AADT probe is synthesized by one-step reaction between 9-anthraldehyde and ethanedithiol.•The probe exhibited excellent dual-channel AIE-active character for detecting Hg2+ in DMF-H2O mixtures solvent.•The probe show excellent advantages on sensitivity, selectivity and anti- interference.•The LOD of the AADT reaches 2.34 × 10−8 mol L−1, better than several reported AIE-active fluorescent probes.