Aggregation-Induced Electrochemiluminescence of Tetraphenylbenzosilole Derivatives in an Aqueous Phase System for Ultrasensitive Detection of Hexavalent Chromium

Highly Electroactive Co2+-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks as an Efficient Coreaction Accelerator for Amplifying Near-Infrared Electrochemiluminescence of Gold Nanoclusters in Biomarkers Immunoassay

Metal nanoclusters (NCs) as a new kind of luminophore have acquired sufficient interest, but their widespread application is restricted on account of their relatively low electrochemiluminescence (ECL) efficiency. Then, aqueous metal NCs with high ECL efficiency were strongly anticipated, especially for the ultrasensitive analysis of biomarkers. Herein, a near-infrared (NIR) ECL biosensing strategy for the test of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) was proposed by utilizing N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC)- and cysteamine (Cys)-stabilized gold NCs (NAC/Cys-AuNCs) as ECL emitters with the NIR ECL emission around 860 nm and a metal-organic framework/palladium nanocubes (ZIF-67/PdNCs) hybrid as the coreaction accelerator through their admirable electrocatalytic activity. The NIR emission would reduce photochemical injury to the samples and even realize nondestructive analysis with highly strong susceptibility and suitability. Furthermore, the utilization of ZIF-67/PdNCs could improve the ECL response of NAC/Cys-AuNCs by facilitating the oxidation of the coreactant triethylamine (TEA), leading to the production of a larger quantity of reducing intermediate radical TEA•+. Consequently, NAC/Cys-AuNCs with ZIF-67/PdNCs displayed 2.7 fold enhanced ECL emission compared with the single NAC/Cys-AuNCs using TEA as the coreactant. In addition, HWRGWVC (HWR), a heptapeptide, was introduced to immobilize antibodies for the specially binding Fc fragment of the antibodies, which improved the binding efficiency and sensitivity. As a result, a "signal-on" immunosensor for NSE analysis was obtained with an extensive linear range of 0.1 to 5 ng/mL and a low limit of detection (0.033 fg/mL) (S/N = 3). This study provides a wonderful method for the development of an efficient nondestructive immunoassay.

Timescale correlation of shallow trap states increases electrochemiluminescence efficiency in carbon nitrides

Highly efficient interconversion of different types of energy plays a crucial role in both science and technology. Among them, electrochemiluminescence, an emission of light excited by electrochemical reactions, has drawn attention as a powerful tool for bioassays. Nonetheless, the large differences in timescale among diverse charge-transfer pathways from picoseconds to seconds significantly limit the electrochemiluminescence efficiency and hamper their broad applications. Here, we report a timescale coordination strategy to improve the electrochemiluminescence efficiency of carbon nitrides by engineering shallow electron trap states via Au-N bond functionalization. Quantitative electrochemiluminescence kinetics measurements and theoretic calculations jointly disclose that Au-N bonds endow shallow electron trap states, which coordinate the timescale of the fast electron transfer in the bulk emitter and the slow redox reaction of co-reagent at diffusion layers. The shallow electron trap states ultimately accelerate the rate and kinetics of emissive electron-hole recombination, setting a new cathodic electrochemiluminescence efficiency record of carbon nitrides, and empowering a visual electrochemiluminescence sensor for nitrite ion, a typical environmental contaminant, with superior detection range and limit.

Dual-Mechanism-Driven Ratiometric Electrochemiluminescent Biosensor for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Design of a ratiometric method is a promising pathway to improve the sensitivity and reliability of electrochemiluminescent (ECL) assay, for which the signals produced at two distinct potentials change reversely as it is applied to the target analyte. Herein, a biosensor for ECL assay of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was constructed by immobilizing porcine IgG for capturing MRSA onto an electrode that was precoated with β-cyclodextrin-conjugated luminol nanoparticles (β-CD-Lu NPs) as an anodic luminophore. MOF PCN 224 loaded with an atomically distributed Zn element (PCN 224/Zn) was conjugated with phage recombinant cellular-binding domain (CBD) to act as a cathodic luminophore for tracing MRSA. After the formation of the sandwich complex of β-CD-Lu NPs-porcine IgG/MRSA/PCN 224/Zn-CBD on the biosensor, two ECL reactions were triggered with cyclic voltammetry. The anodic process of the β-CD-Lu NPs-H2O2 system and the cathodic process of the PCN 224/Zn-S2O82- system competed to react with reactive oxygen species (ROS) for producing ECL emission, which led to a reverse change of the two signals. Meanwhile, the overlap of the β-CD-Lu NPs emission spectrum and PCN 224/Zn absorption spectrum effectively triggered ECL resonance energy transfer between the donor (β-CD-Lu NPs) and the acceptor (PCN 224/Zn). Thus, a ratiometric ECL method was proposed for assaying MRSA with a dual-mechanism-driven mode. The detection limit for assaying MRSA is as low as 12 CFU/mL. The biosensor was applied to assay MRSA in various biological samples with recoveries ranging from 84.9 to 111.3%.

Guest Molecular Assembly Strategy in Covalent Organic Frameworks for Electrochemiluminescence Sensing of Uranyl

The application of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) in electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is promising in environmental monitoring. Developing an emerging design strategy to expand the class of COF-based ECL luminophores is highly desirable. Here, a COF-based host-guest system was constructed through guest molecular assembly to deal with nuclear contamination analysis. The efficient charge transport network was formed by inserting an electron-withdrawing guest tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) into the open space of the COF host (TP-TBDA; TP = 2,4,6-trihydroxy-1,3,5-benzenetricarbaldehyde and TBDA = 2,5-di(thiophen-2-yl)benzene-1,4-diamine) with an electron-donating property; the construction of the COF-based host-guest system (TP-TBDA@TCNQ) triggered the ECL emission of non-emitting TP-TBDA. Furthermore, the dense active sites in TP-TBDA were utilized to capture the target substance UO₂²⁺. The presence of UO₂²⁺ broke the charge-transfer effect in TP-TBDA@TCNQ, resulting in the weakening of the ECL signal, thus the established ECL system integrating the low detection limit with high selectivity monitors UO₂²⁺. This COF-based host-guest system provides a novel material platform for constructing late-model ECL luminophores and creates an opportunity for the vigorous ECL technology.

Advances in electrochemiluminescence luminophores based on small organic molecules for biosensing

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) has several advantages, such as a near-zero background signal, high sensitivity, wide dynamic range, simplicity, and is widely used for sensing, imaging, and single cell analysis. ECL luminophores are the key factors in the performance of various applications. Among various luminophores, small organic luminophores exhibit many intriguing features including good biocompatibility, facile modification, well-defined molecular structure, and sustainable raw materials, making small organic luminophores attractive for the use in the ECL field. Although many great achievements have been made in the synthesis of new small organic luminophores, solving various challenges, and expanding new applications, there are almost no comprehensive reviews on small organic ECL luminophores. In this review, we briefly introduce the advantages and emission mechanisms of small organic ECL luminophores, summarize the main types, molecular characteristics, and ECL properties of most existing small organic ECL luminophores, and present the important applications and design principles in sensors, imaging, single cell analysis, sterilization, and other fields. Finally, the challenges and outlook of organic ECL luminophores to be popularized in biosensing applications are also discussed.

Nanomaterials-Based Electrochemiluminescence Biosensors for Food Analysis: Recent Developments and Future Directions

Developing robust and sensitive food safety detection methods is important for human health. Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is a powerful analytical technique for complete separation of input source (electricity) and output signal (light), thereby significantly reducing background ECL signal. ECL biosensors have attracted considerable attention owing to their high sensitivity and wide dynamic range in food safety detection. In this review, we introduce the principles of ECL biosensors and common ECL luminophores, as well as the latest applications of ECL biosensors in food analysis. Further, novel nanomaterial assembly strategies have been progressively incorporated into the design of ECL biosensors, and by demonstrating some representative works, we summarize the development status of ECL biosensors in detection of mycotoxins, heavy metal ions, antibiotics, pesticide residues, foodborne pathogens, and other illegal additives. Finally, the current challenges faced by ECL biosensors are outlined and the future directions for advancing ECL research are presented.

Probing biothiols using a red-emitting pyridoxal derivative by adopting copper(II) displacement approach and cell imaging

An aggregation-induced emission (AIE) active Schiff base L was synthesized by condensing pyridoxal and 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde with p -phenylenediamine in two simple steps in ethanol. The colorimetric, UV-Vis and fluorescence studies of L revealed that the weak yellow emissive L (λ em =540 nm, λ ex = 450 nm) in pure DMSO turned to a red-emissive L upon increasing the poor solvent fraction (HEPES buffer, 10 mM, pH 7.4) above 50% in DMSO. The DLS and SEM analysis supported the formation of self-aggregates of L that restricted the intramolecular motion and activated the ESIPT. The cations sensing ability of the AIEgen L was explored in HEPES buffer (5% DMSO, 10 mM, pH 7.4), where Cu 2+ selectively quenched the fluorescence at 608 nm due to the chelation-enhanced fluorescence quenching (CHEQ) effect with an estimated sensitivity limit of 0.9 µM. Subsequently, the in situ formed AIEgen L-Cu 2+ complex was applied for the cascade detection of cysteine (Cys), homocysteine (Hcy) and glutathione (GSH). The decomplexation of Cu 2+ from the AIEgen L-Cu 2+ upon addition of Cys, Hcy and GSH restored the quenched fluorescence emission of AIEgen L at 608 nm. With this Cu 2+ displacement approach, the concentration of Cys, Hcy and GSH can be detected down to 2.8 µM, 3.12 µM and 2.0 µM, respectively. The practical utility of AIEgen L and AIEgen L-Cu 2+ was validated by quantifying the selective analytes in various environmental and biological samples, and also applied successfully for the cell imaging applications.

Determination of nitrite in food based on its sensitizing effect on cathodic electrochemiluminescence of conductive PTH-DPP films

Herein, a novel strategy for electrochemiluminescence (ECL) detection of nitrite based on its sensitization effect on cathode ECL emission of 3,6-di(2-thienyl)-2,5-dihydropyrrolo [3,4-c] pyrrole-1,4-dione (TH-DPP) polymeric films (PTH-DPP) was formulated, by means of a one-step electropolymerization of TH-DPP with a short time on the glassy carbon electrode (GCE). It was shown that the PTH-DPP film-modified GCE exhibited a strong ECL response when S₂O₈^2- was used as a co-reactant. The ECL emission could be greatly enhanced by PTH-DPP with nitrite in a K₂S₂O₈/PBS solution system and occurred at a relatively lower potential in comparison with traditional cathode ECL emitter, leading to high sensitivity and good selectivity. The ECL sensor exhibits excellent linear relationship in the ranges of 0.3 to 100 μM and 100 to 1000 μM for nitrite detection, with an outstanding detection limit of 0.08 μM (S/N = 3). The ECL sensor provides an impressive outcome for the detection of practical samples.

Electrochemiluminescent sensor based on an aggregation-induced emission probe for bioanalytical detection

In recent years, with the rapid development of electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensors, more luminophores have been designed to achieve high-throughput and reliable analysis. Impressively, after the proposed fantastic concept of "aggregation-induced electrochemiluminescence (AIECL)" by Cola, the application of AIECL emitters provides more abundant choices for the further improvement of ECL sensors. In this review, we briefly report the phenomenon, principle and representative applications of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and AIECL emitters. Moreover, it is noteworthy that the cases of AIECL sensors for bioanalytical detection are summarized in detail, from 2017 to now. Finally, inspired by the applications of AIECL emitters, relevant prospects and challenges for AIECL sensors are proposed, which is of great significance for exploring more advanced bioanalytical detection technology.

Hollow Double-Shell CuCo2O4@Cu2O Heterostructures as a Highly Efficient Coreaction Accelerator for Amplifying NIR Electrochemiluminescence of Gold Nanoclusters in Immunoassay

The evolution of electrochemiluminescence (ECL) emission amplified by coreaction accelerator in near-infrared (NIR) area has been overwhelmingly anticipated for ultrasensitive detection of disease biomarkers. Herein, the hollow double-shell CuCo₂O₄@Cu₂O (HDS-CuCo₂O₄@Cu₂O) heterostructures were conveniently prepared and utilized as an attractive coreaction accelerator to improve the NIR ECL performance of gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) for the first time. Benefiting from perfect-matched lattice spacing, unique Cu₂O nanoparticles (NPs) were formed in situ on the layered-hollow CuCo₂O₄ nanospheres (NSs) to obtain HDS-CuCo₂O₄@Cu₂O heterostructures. The formed heterojunctions supplied shorter charge transfer distance and better interfacial charge transfer efficiency as well as more effective separation performance. Consequently, HDS-CuCo₂O₄@Cu₂O heterostructures as an admirable electroactive substrate could significantly promote the formation of sufficient coreactant intermediate radicals to react with AuNCs cationic radicals, realizing about 3-folds stronger NIR ECL response than that of individual AuNCs. In addition, the AuNCs templated by l-methionine (l-Met) exhibited NIR ECL emission around 830 nm, which could decrease the photochemical damage to even realize a nondestructive detection with improved susceptibility and circumambient adaptability. Subsequently, a well site-oriented fixation strategy utilizing HWRGWVC heptapeptide as the specific antibody immobilizer was introduced to further preserve the bioactivity of antibody on the HDS-CuCo₂O₄@Cu₂O and AuNCs surface along with enhancing the incubation performance markedly. In view of the progressive sensing mechanism, a NIR immunosensor was obtained for the ultrasensitive analysis of CYFRA21-1, which achieved a broad linear ranging from 2 fg/mL to 50 ng/mL and a low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.67 fg/mL (S/N = 3).

Regulation of the Structure of Zirconium-Based Porphyrinic Metal-Organic Framework as Highly Electrochemiluminescence Sensing Platform for Thrombin

An electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor provides a sensitive and convenient method for early diagnosis of diseases; however, it is still a challenge to develop simple and sensitive sensing platforms based on efficient ECL signals and luminophore groups. Porphyrin-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) show great potential in ECL sensing; however, the mechanism and structure-activity relationship, as well as application, are rarely reported. Herein, hydrothermal reactions obtained porphyrin Zr-MOFs (PCN-222) with different specific surface areas, pore sizes, structures, and surface charge states by tuning the reaction time were developed, which served both as the ECL luminophore, coreaction promoter for S₂O₈^2-, and a connection in the ECL immunoassay. By progressively controlling the condition of the hydrothermal reaction, PCN-222 with large surface area-abundant micropores can be obtained, which has good conductivity and positively charged surfaces, obtaining excellent ECL performance. The ECL performance and the enhancement mechanism were investigated in detail. Using PCN-222-6h with the best ECL intensity as the immobilization matrix for the aptamer, a highly sensitive and selective assay for thrombin was developed. The decrease of the ECL signal was logarithmically linear with the concentration of thrombin in the range from 50 fg mL^-1 to 100 pg mL^-1 with a low detection limit of 2.48 fg/mL. This proposed strategy provides a brand new approach for tuning of the structures of MOFs as effective ECL signal probes, thus providing wider possibilities for effective ECL immunoassays in the detection of other biomarkers in diagnosis of diseases.

Novel Aggregation-Enhanced PEC Photosensitizer Based on Electrostatic Linkage of Ionic Liquid with Protoporphyrin IX for Ultrasensitive Detection of Molt-4 Cells

Nowadays, aggregation quenching of most organic photosensitizers in aqueous media seriously restricts analytical and biomedical applications of photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensors. In this work, an aggregation-enhanced PEC photosensitizer was prepared by electrostatically bonding protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) with an ionic liquid of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazole tetrafluoroborate ([BMIm][BF₄]), termed as PPIX-[BMIm] for clarity. The resultant PPIX-[BMIm] showed weak photocurrent in pure dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, good solvent), while the PEC signals displayed a 44.1-fold enhancement in a water (poor solvent)/DMSO binary solvent with a water fraction (f_w) of 90%. Such PEC-enhanced mechanism was critically studied by electrochemistry and density functional theory (DFT) calculation in some detail. Afterward, a label-free PEC cytosensor was built for ultrasensitive bioassay of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (molt-4) cells by electrodepositing Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) on the PPIX-[BMIm] aggregates and sequential assembly of protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) aptamer DNA (aptDNA). The resultant cytosensor showed a wide linear range (300 to 3 × 10⁵ cells mL^-1) with a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 63 cells mL^-1. The aggregation-enhanced PEC performance offers a valuable and practical pathway for synthesis of advanced organic photosensitizer to explore its PEC applications in early diagnosis of tumors.

Hydrogen Bond Organic Frameworks as a Novel Electrochemiluminescence Luminophore: Simple Synthesis and Ultrasensitive Biosensing

Nowadays, continuous efforts have been devoted to searching highly efficient electrochemiluminescence (ECL) emitters for applications in clinical diagnosis and food safety. In this work, triazinyl-based hydrogen bond organic frameworks (Tr-HOFs) were synthesized by N···H hydrogen bond self-assembly aggregation, where 6,6'-(1,4-phenylene)bis(1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine) (phenyDAT) was prepared via the cyclization reaction and behaved as a novel ligand. Impressively, the resulting Tr-HOFs showed strong ECL responses with highly enhanced ECL efficiency (21.3%) relative to the Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ standard, while phenyDAT hardly showed any ECL emission in aqueous phase. The Tr-HOFs innovatively worked as a new ECL luminophore to construct a label-free biosensor for assay of kanamycin (Kana). Specifically, the ECL response greatly weakened upon assembly of captured DNA with ferrocene (cDNA-Fc) onto the Tr-HOFs-modified electrode, while the ECL signals were adversely recovered by releasing linked DNA (L-DNA) from double-stranded DNA (dsDNA, hybridization of aptamer DNA (aptDNA) with L-DNA) due to the specific recognition of Kana with the aptDNA combined by the linkage of L-DNA and cDNA-Fc on the electrode. The as-built sensor showed a broadened linear range (1 nM-10 μM) and a limit of detection (LOD) down to 0.28 nM, which also displayed satisfactory results in the analysis of Kana in the milk and diluted human serum samples. This work offers a novel pathway to design an ECL emitter with organic molecules, holding great promise in biomedical analysis and food detection.

Arousing Electrochemiluminescence Out of Non-Electroluminescent Monomers within Covalent Organic Frameworks

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with stable long-range ordered arrangements are promising materials for organic optoelectronics. However, their electrochemiluminescence (ECL) from non-ECL active monomers has not been realized. Here, we report a design strategy for ECL-emitting COF family. The donors and acceptors co-crystallized and stacked into the highly aligned array of olefin-linked COFs, so that electrons can be transported freely. By this means, a tunable ECL is activated from non-ECL molecules with the maximum efficiency of 32.1% in water with the dissolved oxygen as an inner coreactant, and no additional noxious co-reactant is needed any more. Quantum chemistry calculations further demonstrate that this design reduces the COFs' band gaps and the overlap of electrons and holes in the excited state for better photoelectric properties and stronger ECL signals. This work exploits a basis to envisage the broad application potential of ECL-COFs for various biosensors and light-emitting display.

Electrochemiluminescence of water-dispersed nitrogen and sulfur doped carbon dots synthesized from amino acids

A facile one-pot hydrothermal approach for synthesizing water-dispersed nitrogen and sulfur doped carbon dots (NS-CDs) with high luminescence quantum yield was explored, using cysteine and tryptophan as precursors. The NS-CDs were characterized by means of FT-IR spectroscopy, XRD, TEM, etc. It was found that the absolute photoluminescence quantum yield (QY) of the NS-CDs determined with an integrating sphere can reach up to 73%, with an average decay time of 17.06 ns. Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) behaviors and mechanisms of the NS-CDs/K₂S₂O₈ coreactant system were investigated. When the working electrode was modified with the prepared NS-CDs, the ECL efficiency of the NS-CDs with K₂S₂O₈ was 24%, relative to Ru(bpy)₃Cl₂/K₂S₂O₈. This work shows great potential for the NS-CDs to be used in bioanalytical applications.

Signal Amplification Strategy Using Atomically Gold-Supported VO2 Nanobelts as a Co-reaction Accelerator for Ultrasensitive Electrochemiluminescent Sensor Construction Based on the Resonance Energy Transfer Platform

Luminol, as a classical luminophore, plays a crucial role in electrochemiluminescence (ECL). However, the traditional luminol-H₂O₂ ECL system suffers from the self-decomposition of H₂O₂ at ambient temperature, which hinders its further application in quantitative analysis. In this work, for the first time, we developed atomically gold-supported two-dimensional VO₂ nanobelts (Au/VO₂) as an advanced co-reaction promoter to speed up the reduction of dissolved oxygen to superoxide radicals (O₂^•-), which react with the luminol anion radical and greatly promote the ECL emission. The ECL resonance energy transfer (ECL-RET) between the hollow manganese dioxide nanospheres and luminol results in a conspicuously decreased ECL signal response, and in the presence of glutathione (GSH), effective redox reaction between manganese dioxide and GSH restores the ECL signal. As a consequence, the designed sensor based on ECL-RET-assisted Au/VO₂ signal amplification showed outstanding performance for "signal-on" detection of GSH in the concentration range of 10^-3 to 10^-10 M, and the detection limit was as low as 0.03 nM. The ECL sensor displayed excellent specificity and was successfully utilized to target GSH in real human serum samples. Importantly, this work not only highlights a powerful avenue for constructing an ultrasensitive ECL sensor for GSH but also provides some inspiration for the further design of high-performance co-reaction accelerators using the ECL technique.

Bipolar Aggregation-Induced Electrochemiluminescence of Thiophene-Fused Conjugated Microporous Polymers

Herein, we synthesize the thiophene tetraphenylethene-based conjugated microporous polymer (ThT-CMP) using the tetraphenylethylene derivative [i.e., 1,1,2,2-tetrakis(4-bromophenyl)ethane (TPBE)] and 2,5-thiophenediboronic acid as the precursors. The aggregation of TPBE in the ThT-CMP can induce a strong dual-band bipolar electrochemiluminescence (AIECL) emission at 554 nm (anodic) and 559 nm (cathodic) with tri-n-propylamine (TPrA) and S₂O₈^2- as the coreactants, respectively. The anodic and cathodic ECL efficiencies are measured to be 11.49 and 3.82% with respect to the standard of the Ru(bpy)₃²⁺/TPrA system, respectively. We further develop a dipolar ECL sensor to sensitively detect rhodamine B (RhB) based on resonance energy transfer. This ECL sensor possesses a large dynamic range and high sensitivity. This research provides a new avenue of designing organic structures with the characteristic of bipolar AIECL for the development of luminescent devices.

Aggregation-Induced Emission in Electrochemiluminescence: Advances and Perspectives

The discovery of aggregation-induced electrochemiluminescence (AIECL) in 2017 opened new research paths in the quest for novel, more efficient emitters and platforms for biological and environmental sensing applications. The great abundance of fluorophores presenting aggregation-induced emission in aqueous media renders AIECL a potentially powerful tool for future diagnostics. In the short time following this discovery, many scientists have found the phenomenon interesting, with research findings contributing to advances in the comprehension of the processes involved and in attempts to design new sensing platforms. Herein, we explore these advances and reflect on the future directions to take for the development of sensing devices based on AIECL.

Field analysis of Cr(vi) in water samples by using a smartphone-based ultralong absorption path reflection colorimetric device

Hexavalent chromium is highly toxic and regarded as one of the main pollutants in the environment. A multiple reflection colorimetric cell is designed to improve the sensitivity in field analysis for Cr(vi).