Pre‐oxidation of Gold Nanoclusters Results in a 66 % Anodic Electrochemiluminescence Yield and Drives Mechanistic Insights

Gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) are attractive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) emitters because of their excellent stability, near IR emission, and biocompatibility. However, their ECL quantum yield is relatively low, and our limited fundamental understanding has hindered rational improvement of this parameter. Herein, we report drastic enhancement of the ECL of ligand‐stabilized AuNCs by on‐electrode pre‐oxidation with triethylamine (TEA) as a co‐reactant. The l ‐methionine‐stabilized AuNCs resulted in a record high ECL yield of 66 %. This strategy was successfully extended to other AuNCs, and it is more effective for ligand shells that allow more effective electron transfer. In addition, excitation of the pre‐oxidized ECL required a lower potential than conventional methods, and no additional instrument was required. This work opens avenues for solving a challenging problem of AuNC‐based ECL probes and enriches fundamental understanding, greatly broadening their potential applications.     

Electrochemiluminescence Platforms Based on Small Water‐Insoluble Organic Molecules for Ultrasensitive Aqueous‐Phase Detection

Highly efficient detection in the aqueous phase for water‐insoluble organic molecule probes is challenging. The bright aggregated‐state electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of 1,1‐disubstituted 2,3,4,5‐tetraphenylsiloles by a co‐reactant approach was discovered, and a heterogeneous aggregation‐induced emission ECL (HAIE‐ECL) was constructed at the electrode surface, showing very high ECL efficiency (37.8 %) and selective recognition for industrially important DNBP plasticizer with a low detection limit of 0.15 nm in the water phase. A mechanistic study indicates that ECL is mainly generated due to the high electron affinity of siloles and restriction of the intramolecular motions caused by their propeller‐like noncoplanar structures. This system realizes the sensing of organic‐based ECL in the water phase by solving the crucial problems of water insolubility and aggregation‐caused quenching (ACQ), and demonstrates potential for further application because of its design and high efficiency.     

Online photolytic optical gating of caged fluorophores in capillary zone electrophoresis utilizing an ultraviolet light‐emitting diode

Photolytic optical gating (POG) facilitates rapid, on‐line and highly sensitive analyses, though POG utilizes UV lasers for sample injection. We present a low‐cost, more portable alternative, employing an ultraviolet light‐emitting diode (UV‐LED) array to inject caged fluorescent dyes via photolysis. Utilizing the UV‐LED array, labeled amino acids were injected with nanomolar limits of detection (270 ± 30 nM and 250 ± 30 nM for arginine and citrulline, respectively). When normalized for the difference in light intensity, the UV‐LED array provides comparable sensitivity to POG utilizing UV lasers. Additionally, the UV‐LED array yielded sufficient beam quality and stability to facilitate coupling with a Hadamard transform, resulting in increased sensitivity. This work shows, for the first time, the use of an UV‐LED for online POG with comparable sensitivity to conventional laser sources but at a lower cost.     

A simple,low-cost,remote fiber-optic micro volume fluorescence flowcell for capillary flow-injection analysis

A small volume flowcell for fluorescence detection in capillary flow injection (CFI) analysis has been created by using a low cost, commercially available fluidic device. Fluorescence detection is achieved using an optical fiber to deliver excitation light to the sample flowing through the device and another optical fiber to collect fluorescence emission. The flowcell is a standard fluidic cross with a swept volume of 721 nL. Optical fibers were oriented at right angles using standard sleeves and ferrules to set their position near the cross intersection. Multiple excitation sources were used including a low power UV laser and blue and UV light emitting diodes (LED). The full emission spectrum detection limits, using the laser, for fluorescein and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were 0.30 ppb and 2.1 x 10(-4)% (w/w), respectively. Two fluidic crosses were used in series for multi-wavelength fluorescence excitation using fiber-optically coupled LED.     

New Design forDetection Cell Applied in Magnetic Particle‐Based Electrochemiluminescence Assays

A new configuration of detection cell has been designed for convenient magnetic particles (MPs)‐based electrochemiluminescence (ECL) assays preformed on the instruments in which the photomultiplier tube is under the working electrode (WE) side. The design provides easy physical cleaning of WE and avoids impurity precipitates depositing on the electrode surface. Subsequently, effects of different MPs without and with graphene (named CMNs and GHPMNs, respectively) on ECL efficiency were compared for the first time. CMNs would decrease the ECL due to the low conductivity of Fe₃O₄ itself. Because of the intrinsic high conductivity of graphene, GHPMNs could lead to 6–7‐fold increase in ECL intensity.     

A Highly Sensitive Electrochemiluminescence Choline Biosensor Based on Poly(aniline‐luminol‐hemin) Nanocomposites

Poly(aniline‐luminol‐hemin) nanocomposites are prepared on an electrode surface through electropolymerization, and a highly sensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) biosensor for choline is developed based on the poly(aniline‐luminol‐hemin) nanocomposites and an enzyme catalyzed reaction of choline oxidase (CHOD). The obtained nanocomposites are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and ECL. The results indicate that hemin can be incorporated into the poly(aniline‐luminol) nanocomposites using the facile electropolymerization method, and the poly(aniline‐luminol‐hemin) nanocomposites are rod shaped porous nanostructure. Moreover, the poly(aniline‐luminol‐hemin) nanocomposites exhibit higher ECL intensity than poly(aniline‐luminol) nanocomposites in alkaline media due to the catalytic effect of hemin on the ECL of the polymerized luminol and the electron transfer ability of hemin in the nanocomposites. CHOD is immobilized on the surface of the poly(aniline‐luminol‐hemin) nanocomposites modified electrode with glutaraldehyde, and the ECL biosensor based on poly(aniline‐luminol‐hemin)/CHOD exhibits a wider linear range for the choline detection. The enhanced ECL signals are linear with the logarithm of concentration of choline over the range of 1.0×10^?11～1.0×10^?7 mol L^?1 with a low detection limit of 1.2×10^?12 mol L^?1. Moreover, the proposed biosensor is successfully applied to the detection of choline in milk.     

Electrochemiluminescence Quenching by Halide Ions at Bipolar Electrodes

Quenching of Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ electrochemiluminescence (ECL) by Cl^?, Br^?, and I^? ions was studied as a function of halide concentration in a bipolar electrochemical cell. All of the halides investigated showed similar qualitative behavior: above a critical concentration, ECL intensity was found to decrease linearly as the halide ion concentration was increased, due to dynamic quenching of Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ ECL. Stern‐Volmer slopes (K_SV) of 0.111±0.003, 4.2±0.3, and 6.2±0.3 mM^?1 were measured for Cl^?, Br^? and I^?, respectively. The magnitude of K_SV correlates with halide ion oxidation potential, consistent with an electron transfer quenching mechanism. Using the bipolar platform described herein, aqueous, halide‐containing solutions could be quantified rapidly using the sequential standard addition method. The lower detection limit is determined by a complex mechanism involving the competitive electrooxidation of halide ions and the ECL co‐reactants, as well as the passivation of the surface of the bipolar electrode, and was found to be 0.20±0.01, 0.08±0.01 and 10±1 mM, respectively, for I^?, Br^?, and Cl^?. The performance of the bipolar ECL quenching assay is comparable to previously published fluorescence quenching methods for the determination of halide ions, while being much simpler and less expensive to implement.     

Highly Sensitive Electrochemiluminescent Insecticide Sensor Based on ZnO Nanocrystals Anchored Nickel Foam for Determination of Imidacloprid in Real Samples

In this work, a novel electrochemiluminescent (ECL) pesticide sensor based on zinc oxide nanocrystals decorated nickel foam is proposed for determination of imidacloprid for the first time. The silica film was used as a morphology‐controlling factor for modification of the electrode with zinc oxide nanocrystals. Zinc oxide was selected as luminescent material due to its cheapness, non‐toxicity, high thermal stability and excellent luminescence properties which truly adhered on the surface of nickel foam. The K₂S₂O₈ was used as strong co‐reactant for this purpose. The silica template plays an important role in controlling the size of ZnO nanocrystals. The Physical morphology of the ZnO/Ni‐foam electrode was performed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, Brunauer‐Emmett‐Teller (BET), X‐Ray diffraction analysis, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis. The ultra‐sensitive electrochemiluminescence method was successfully used for ultra‐trace determination of imidacloprid. The linear dynamic range and low detection limit were obtained 3×10^?14 ?8×10^?8 M and 4.4×10^?15 M, respectively. Also, the relative standard deviation for 15 repetitive optical signals was calculated 1.09 %.The present ECL sensor exhibited superior performance toward the accurate determination of imidacloprid with good reproducibility and stability.     

Facile Fabrication of Solid‐state Electrochemiluminescence Sensor via Non‐covalent π‐π Stacking and Covalent Bonding on Graphite Electrode

Herein, a facile and efficient method was developed for fabrication of solid‐state electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor via non‐covalent π‐π stacking and covalent bonding on the graphite electrode (GE) surface. The electrode was firstly modified with 1‐aminopyrene via π‐π stacking between GE surface and the pyrene moiety. Thereafter a stable and efficient solid‐state ECL sensor was fabricated by covalent immobilization of ruthenium(II) onto the GE surface via amidation reaction between the 1‐aminopyrene and bis(2,2′‐bipyridyl)(4‐methyl‐4′‐carboxypropyl‐2,2′‐bipyridyl) ruthenium(II) bishexafluorophosphate. The sensor has been investigated using tripropylamine and tetracycline as representative analytes, and low detection limits of 0.7 nM and 3.5 nM (S/N=3) were reached, respectively.     

Light‐emitting‐diode‐induced chemiluminescence detection for capillary electrophoresis

In this work, an LED‐induced‐chemiluminescence (LED‐CL) system was developed to extend the application of CL detection in CE. In the LED‐CL, the analyte photooxidizes luminol under the irradiation of LEDs and generates CL. Taking the advantage of the small size nature of LEDs, the constructed photoreactor is greatly miniaturized, and especially suitable as a CE detector. The feasibility of the proposed detector was evaluated by detection of riboflavin (RF), flavin mononucleotide (FMN) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) after CE separation. Under the optimized conditions, the LODs for RF, FMN and FAD were 0.007, 0.02 and 0.1 μg/mL, respectively, better than those by UV detection. The RSDs were 3.4, 3.6 and 4.1% for 0.5 μg/mL RF, 2 μg/mL FMN and 5 μg/mL FAD, respectively. The LED‐CL detector features low cost, miniaturization, fast response, high sensitivity and good reproducibility.     

毛细管电泳电致化学发光法测定牛奶样中的土霉素残留量

以铕离子(Ⅲ)掺杂类普鲁士蓝(Eu-PB)化学修饰铂电极为工作电极,基于铜(Ⅱ)-土霉素配合物对三联吡啶钌(Ⅱ)电致化学发光强度的增敏作用,建立了用毛细管电泳电致化学发光法测定土霉素的新方法。实验对毛细管电泳分离条件和电化学发光检测条件进行了优化。在最佳实验条件下,电致化学发光峰面积与铜(Ⅱ)-土霉素配合物的浓度在0.138～46.1μg/mL范围内呈良好的线性关系,检出限为57.0ng/mL(3σ)。本法用于牛奶样中土霉素残留量的测定,加标回收率为95.5%(n=5)。     

Intracellular Wireless Analysis of Single Cells by Bipolar Electrochemiluminescence Confined in a Nanopipette

The inside walls of a nanopipette tip are decorated by a Pt deposit that is used as an open bipolar electrochemiluminescence (ECL) device to achieve intracellular wireless electroanalysis. The synergetic actions of nanopipette and of bipolar ECL lead to the spatial confinement of the voltage drop at the level of the Pt deposit, which generates ECL emission from luminol. The porous structure of Pt deposit permits the electrochemical transport of intracellular molecules into the nanopipette that is coupled with enzymatic reactions. Thus, the intracellular concentrations of hydrogen peroxide or glucose are measured in vivo as well as the intracellular sphingomyelinase activity. In comparison with the classic bipolar ECL, the remarkably low potential applied in our approach is restricted inside the nanopipette and it minimizes the potential bias of the voltage on the cellular activity. Accordingly, this wireless ECL approach provides a new direction for analysis of single living cells.     

Determination of nicotine and its metabolite cotinine in urine and cigarette samples by capillary electrophoresis coupled with electrochemiluminescence

In this paper, CE coupled with electrochemiluminesence (ECL) detection using a 76‐μm Pt disk as working electrode was developed for nicotine (NIC) determination. The major metabolite of NIC is cotinine (COT), which has a similar tertiary amine structure to NIC. However, there is a carbonyl group attached in the structure of COT, which leads to the great decrease in ECL response. In order to improve the ECL response of COT, NaBH₄ was used for carbonyl reduction. After reduction, NIC and COT were separated and detected by CE‐ECL. ECL response plotted with NIC concentration was linear between 5.0×10^?7 and 5.0×10^?5 mol/L (81–8100 μg/L), with LOD of 5.0×10^?8 mol/L (8.1 μg/L). The developed CE‐ECL method was applied for NIC determination in urine and cigarette samples.     

Remote NADH imaging through an ordered array of electrochemiluminescent nanoapertures

In this report, we present an ordered array comprising thousands of nanoapertures for the electrochemiluminescent (ECL) detection of NADH. It was fabricated on the distal face of a coherent optical fiber bundle. Such a high-density array of nanoapertures combines optical, imaging and electrochemical properties. Indeed, each nanoaperture is surrounded by a gold nanoring, which acts as an electrode material. The behavior of the array was characterized by cyclic voltammetry and it shows excellent electrochemical performances. NADH is the analyte, which is measured in presence of Ru(bpy)3(2+). The ruthenium complex mediates the NADH oxidation and this coenzyme acts as a co-reactant in the ECL mechanism. ECL light is generated at the distal face of the array by each gold ring electrode. A fraction of this ECL light is collected by the corresponding nanoaperture, transmitted through the optical fiber bundle and finally imaged on the proximal face with a CCD camera. In this work, we show that NADH concentration is remotely detected by an oxidative-reductive ECL mechanism. We present also some preliminary results about the ECL process of NADH with Ru(bpy)3(2+). The ECL behavior of NADH on gold surface is reported. The influence of the applied potential on the collected light intensity was investigated. The variation of the ECL intensity measured through the nanoaperture array with NADH concentration is linear. Remote ECL detection of NADH is spatially resolved over a large area with a micrometer resolution through the array. Therefore, such array integrates several complementary functions: ECL light generation, collection, transmission and remote imaging in an array format.     

Electrochemiluminescence analysis of folate receptors on cell membrane with on-chip bipolar electrode

In this paper we report a transparent bipolar electrode based microfluidic chip-electrochemiluminescence (ECL) system for sensitive detection of folate receptors (FR) on cell membranes. This integrated system consists of a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) layer containing a microchannel and a glass bottom sheet with indium tin oxide (ITO) strips as bipolar detectors. The ITO strips are fabricated using a PDMS micromold with carbon ink as a protective layer in place of traditional photoresist. The configuration of the bipolar electrode has great influence on the ECL intensity of Ru(bpy)(3)(2+)/tripropylamine(TPA) system. Further studies show that folic acid (FA) can strongly inhibit the ECL of the Ru(bpy)(3)(2+)/TPA system. Based on specific recognition between FA and FR on cell membrane, this microfluidic chip-ECL system is successfully applied for detecting the level of FR on human cervical tumor (HL-60) cells and MEF cells. It is found that the ECL intensity increases with the number of HL-60 cells in the range of 21 to 3.28 × 10(4) cells/mL. The average level of FR on HL-60 cells is calculated to be 8.05 ± 0.75 × 10(-18) mol/cell. While for MEF cells, it shows a much slower ECL increment than HL-60 cells due to the much lower FR level on MEF cells (5.30 ± 0.61 × 10(-19) mol/cell). Moreover, exocytosis of FA after FR mediated endocytosis was observed according to the change of the ECL signal with the incubation time of HL-60 cells in the FA- Ru(bpy)(3)(2+)/TPA system.     

The Sensitized Solid‐Phase Electrochemiluminescence of Electrodeposited Poly‐Luminol/Aniline on AuAg/TiO2 Nanohybrid Functionalized Electrode for Flow Injection Analysis

In this study, a copolymer of luminol with aniline is electrochemically deposited onto the AuAg/TiO₂ nanohybrid functionalized indium tin oxide coated glass. It is used as a reagentless electrochemiluminescent (ECL) electrode for flow‐injection‐analysis (FIA). The properties of this solid phase ECL electrode are characterized by cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy etc. It has stronger ECL emission, sensitive response for target analytes and excellent stability. The so‐prepared ECL electrode shows sensitive response to reactive oxygen species thereafter to be applied for determination of hydrogen peroxide with FIA mode. Under optimized conditions, a mass detection limit of 0.822 pg of hydrogen peroxide was obtained. Thus the hydrogen peroxide residues in samples were detected with satisfactory result.     

Electrochemiluminescence Waveguide in Single Crystalline Molecular Wires

Here we report the first observation of active waveguide of electrochemiluminescence (ECL) in single crystalline molecular wires self‐assembled from cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes, namely tris(1‐phenylisoquinoline‐C², N) (Ir(piq)₃). Under dark conditions, the molecular wires deposited on the electrode surface can act as both ECL emitters and active waveguides. As revealed by ECL microscopy, they exhibit the typical characteristics of optical waveguides, transmitting ECL and generating much brighter ECL emission at their terminals. Moreover, self‐generated ECL can be confined inside the molecular wire and propagates along the longitudinal direction as far as ≈100 μm to the terminal out of touch with the electrode. Therefore, this one‐dimensional crystalline molecular wire‐based waveguide offers the opportunity to switch the electrochemically generated ECL to remote light emission in non‐conductive regions and is promising for contactless electrochemical analysis and study of (bio)chemical systems.     

Electrochemiluminescent Detection Method for Glyphosate in Soybean on Carbon Fiber-ionic Liquid Paste Electrode

A carbon fiber paste electrode using ionic liquid as the binder (CFILE) was fabricated. The electrochemical characteristics of the electrode was examined in ferro‐/ferricyanide solution and showed better conductivity and reversibility when compared with graphite paste‐ionic liquid electrode (GPILE) and a little better than that on the carbon nanotube paste‐ionic liquid electrode (CNTILE). Glyphosate (GLY), a pesticide, exhibited excellent catalysis to the oxidation of Ru(bpy)²⁺₃ on CFILE and brought an obvious enhancement to the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) intensity of Ru(bpy)²⁺₃. Based on the catalytic ability of GLY, a simple ECL method for GLY detection had been established. Under optimum conditions, the enhanced ECL intensities were found to had linearly respond to the GLY concentration between 3.0×10^?7 and 3.0×10^?5 mol/L, and the detection limit (S/N=3) was 2.0×10^?7 mol/L. The electrode also showed excellent sensitivity in detecting GLY‐spiked soybean samples. The linear range for GLY in soybean samples was 1.0×10^?6–4.0×10^?5 mol/L and the detection limit was 5.0×10^?7 mol/L, equal to 8.45 µg GLY in per gram of soybean. The detection limit in soybean sample was lower than the USA, EU regulation and so on. If the method is coupled with the separation technology, it can be applied to detect the GLY in the contaminated samples.     

Design and evaluation of capillary coupled with optical fiber light‐emitting diode induced fluorescence detection for capillary electrophoresis

A new detector, capillary coupled with optical fiber LED‐induced fluorescence detector (CCOF‐LED‐IFD, using CCOF for short), is introduced for CE. The strategy of the present work was that the optical fiber and separation capillary were, in the parallel direction, fastened in a fixation capillary with larger inner diameter. By employing larger inner diameter, the fixation capillary allowed the large diameter of the optical fiber to be inserted into it. By transmitting an enhanced excitation light through the optical fiber, the detection sensitivity was improved. The advantages of the CCOF‐CE system were validated by the detection of riboflavin, and the results were compared to those obtained by the in‐capillary common optical fiber LED‐induced fluorescence detector (IC‐COF‐LED‐IFD, using COF for short). The LODs of CCOF‐CE and COF‐CE were 0.29 nM and 11.0 nM (S/N = 3), respectively. The intraday (n = 6) repeatability and interday (n = 6) reproducibility of migration time and corresponding peak area for both types of CE were all less than 1.10 and 3.30%, respectively. The accuracy of the proposed method was judged by employing standard addition method, and recoveries obtained were in the range of 98.0–102.4%. The results indicated that the sensitivity of the proposed system was largely improved, and that its reproducibility and accuracy were satisfactory. The proposed system was successfully applied to separate and determine riboflavin in real sample.     

Design and fabrication of a micro-electrochemiluminescent cell for the study of ionic liquid-mediated electrochemiluminescence

In this paper, a novel micro-electrochemiluminescent (μ-ECL) cell with volume less than 100 μl was designed and fabricated. A special configuration of the three-electrode system, in which the counter and reference electrodes were integrated on a Perspex optical window while the working electrode was placed opposite to the optical window, has greatly decreased the amount of reagents required for ECL measurements. In the μ-ECL cell, large size working electrode was still applicable, which maintained ECL detect sensitivity while consuming a small amount of sample. In addition, the immobilization of the working electrode by a special adjusting device facilitated not only the detachment of the working electrode for treatment but also accurate orientation of the electrode, consequently improved ECL reproducibility. Finally, ECL of luminol in ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate was used to evaluate this μ-ECL cell.