Homologous chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer on the interface of WS2 quantum dots for monitoring photocatalytic H2O2 evaluation

Enhanced chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer using surfactant-modified AIE carbon dots

Chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (CRET) efficiency can be enhanced by confining CRET donors and acceptors within nanoscale spaces. However, this enhanced efficiency is often affected by uncertainties stemming from the random distribution of CRET donors and acceptors in such confined environments. In this study, a novel confined nanospace was created through the surfactant modification of carbon dots (CDs) exhibiting aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics. Hydrophobic CRET donors could be effectively confined within this nanospace. The distance between the CRET donors and acceptors could be controlled by anchoring the AIE-CDs as the CRET acceptors, resulting in significantly improved CRET efficiency. Furthermore, this AIE-CDs-based CRET system was successfully applied to the detection of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in rainwater, showcasing its potential for practical applications.

Colloidal Quantum Dots as an Emerging Vast Platform and Versatile Sensitizer for Singlet Molecular Oxygen Generation

Singlet molecular oxygen (1O2) has been reported in wide arrays of applications ranging from optoelectronic to photooxygenation reactions and therapy in biomedical proposals. It is also considered a major determinant of photodynamic therapy (PDT) efficacy. Since the direct excitation from the triplet ground state (3O2) of oxygen to the singlet excited state 1O2 is spin forbidden; therefore, a rational design and development of heterogeneous sensitizers is remarkably important for the efficient production of 1O2. For this purpose, quantum dots (QDs) have emerged as versatile candidates either by acting individually as sensitizers for 1O2 generation or by working in conjunction with other inorganic materials or organic sensitizers by providing them a vast platform. Thus, conjoining the photophysical properties of QDs with other materials, e.g., coupling/combining with other inorganic materials, doping with the transition metal ions or lanthanide ions, and conjugation with a molecular sensitizer provide the opportunity to achieve high-efficiency quantum yields of 1O2 which is not possible with either component separately. Hence, the current review has been focused on the recent advances made in the semiconductor QDs, perovskite QDs, and transition metal dichalcogenide QD-sensitized 1O2 generation in the context of ongoing and previously published research work (over the past eight years, from 2015 to 2023).

Merging microfluidics with luminescence immunoassays for urgent point-of-care diagnostics of COVID-19

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has urged the establishment of a global-wide rapid diagnostic system. Current widely-used tests for COVID-19 include nucleic acid assays, immunoassays, and radiological imaging. Immunoassays play an irreplaceable role in rapidly diagnosing COVID-19 and monitoring the patients for the assessment of their severity, risks of the immune storm, and prediction of treatment outcomes. Despite of the enormous needs for immunoassays, the widespread use of traditional immunoassay platforms is still limited by high cost and low automation, which are currently not suitable for point-of-care tests (POCTs). Microfluidic chips with the features of low consumption, high throughput, and integration, provide the potential to enable immunoassays for POCTs, especially in remote areas. Meanwhile, luminescence detection can be merged with immunoassays on microfluidic platforms for their good performance in quantification, sensitivity, and specificity. This review introduces both homogenous and heterogenous luminescence immunoassays with various microfluidic platforms. We also summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the categorized methods, highlighting their recent typical progress. Additionally, different microfluidic platforms are described for comparison. The latest advances in combining luminescence immunoassays with microfluidic platforms for POCTs of COVID-19 are further explained with antigens, antibodies, and related cytokines. Finally, challenges and future perspectives were discussed.

New advanced oxidation progress with chemiluminescence behavior based on NaClO triggered by WS2 nanosheets

As one integral part of coping strategies for addressing water pollution, advanced oxidation progresses (AOPs) get enormous attentions in recent years. However, the complex synthesis and high cost of H₂O₂ and K₂S₂O₈ hampered their developments. Herein, a novel AOP with the chemiluminescence (CL) property based on economic NaClO and WS₂ nanosheets was proposed to achieve efficient decomposition of organic pollutants. In this AOP, WS₂ nanosheets exhibited a dual-function feature of the catalyst and energy acceptor. It demonstrated that the reaction order of WS₂ nanosheets was equal to 0.8271 and enormous singlet oxygen (¹O₂),·ClO and hydroxyl radical (·OH) were generated in rhodamine B (RhB) degradation process. Interestingly, a strong CL emission was observed and reflected the relative concentration of ¹O₂ and·OH for adjusting the oxidizing capability in WS₂ nanosheets-NaClO system. Through a series of degradation tests, RhB, methylene blue (MB), p-nitrophenol and phenol were decomposed and the degradation efficiency of over 90% was achieved. Therefore, this study not only builds a chemiluminescent AOPs to eliminate organic pollutants, but also broadens the applications of WS₂ nanomaterials and CL in environmental field.