A new D-pi-A type gelator based on a phenothiazine derivative, which can gel cyclohexane, hexane, and ethanol/water under ultrasound treatment, has been synthesized. Because such gelators can act as twisted intermolecular charge transfer (TICT) probes, their emission in solution can be tuned by varying the polarity of the solvents. It is notable that an unusual aggregation-induced blue shift of the emission has been detected on account of the suppression of TICT in the gel phase. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.