Novel electrochemiluminescent materials for sensor applications

Abstract

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) uses redox reactions to generate light at an electrode surface, and is gaining increasing attention for biosensor development due to its high sensitivity and excellent signal-to-noise ratio. ECL studies of monodisperse oligofluorene-truxenes (T4 series) have been reported previously, showing the production of stable radical cations and radical anions, generating blue ECL. The compound in this study differs from the original structures, in that there are 2,1,3-benzothiadazole (BT) units inserted between the first and second fluorene units of the quarterfluorenyl arms. It was therefore anticipated that the incorporation of these highly luminescent and ECL-active compounds into sensor development would lead to significant decreases in detection limits. In this contribution, we report on the impact of incorporating these novel complexes into sensor devices on the ECL efficiency, as well as the ability of these to improve the detection sensitivity and decrease the limit of detection using the reagent-free detection of model analytes. The real world impact of these compounds is elucidated through the comparison with more standard ECL materials such as ruthenium-based compounds. The potential for multiple applications is to be examined within this contribution.

Electrochemiluminescent sensors as a screening strategy for psychoactive substances within biological matrices

“…2. 23,24,29,41 As such, the maximum ECL intensity was obtained at pH 8 close to the compounds pK a of 7.75. 42 Furthermore measurable signals were obtained across the entire pH range investigated for scopolamine, although to varying intensities.…”

Electrochemiluminescent detection of methamphetamine and amphetamine

“…Systems utilising both organic and inorganic complexes have been developed. 18,28,29 ECL usually involves the reaction of electrogenerated species that react to form excited states, usually via an energetic redox reaction. 18 Thus, ECL can also be utilized to probe electron and energy transfer processes at electrified interfaces.…”

Design of Linear and Star-Shaped Macromolecular Organic Semiconductors for Photonic Applications

“…ECL relies on the generation of radical anions and radical cations at the working electrode of an electrochemical cell, and subsequent annihilation of these species to give emissive excited states. While the ECL intensity of the truxene T4 was found to be 80% of the standard ECL emitter 9,10-diphenylanthracene (DPA, Figure 4a), 16 the increased stability of the radical anions in T4BT-B led to the ECL intensity increasing to 7 times that of the DPA standard, 17,18 proving that the BT-containing compounds are highly efficient and superior ECL materials compared to their parent truxene materials. The star-shaped materials reported above have excellent solubility in organic solvents such as THF, dichloromethane, and toluene.…”