Insights into Electrochemiluminescence Dynamics by Synchronizing Real-Time Electrical, Luminescent, and Mass Spectrometric Measurements

Signal Enhancement of Luminol-Based Electrochemiluminescence Systems and Their Applications

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) has emerged as a powerful analytical tool owing to its low background, high sensitivity, and wide dynamic range. Luminol, a commonly used ECL emitter, is widely applied in ECL-based analysis due to its low triggering potential, cost-effectiveness, and low toxicity. Despite the significant advantages of the luminol ECL system, its relatively low luminescence efficiency limits its application in high-sensitivity detection. As a result, numerous strategies have been proposed to enhance the luminol ECL signal intensity. This review summarizes four typical ECL signal amplification strategies and analyzes their roles in improving the effectiveness of luminol-based ECL signals. Furthermore, the applications of luminol ECL in fields such as sensing, imaging analysis, and material characterization are discussed. Finally, the future research directions and potential applications of the luminol ECL system are highlighted.

Identifying N Coordination Types of Single-Atom Catalysts by Spin-Modulated Luminol Cathodic Electrochemiluminescence

The type of coordinated N atoms in the metal-N coordination structure is of paramount importance to the catalytic property of N-modified carbon-based single-atom catalysts (SACs). Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy is a powerful tool for analyzing the coordination environments of SACs. Despite its efficacy, the limited availability of synchrotron light sources and the complexity of data analysis have constrained its broader application in identifying metal-N coordination types within SACs. In this work, two kind of CoN4 SACs, were prepared by varying the N source. Then their electrochemiluminescence (ECL) behavior in the luminol/dissolved oxygen system during cathodic scanning were investigated. In comparison to CoN4(pyridinic N), for which the spin density displays dz2 orbital characteristics, CoN4(pyrrolic N) exhibits dxz orbital features, which was more conducive to the subsequent cleavage of the O-O bond in O2⋅- to ⋅OH, resulting in the generation of more active intermediates *OH and the promotion of cathodic ECL emission. This work demonstrates that the ECL technique provides a novel method for the rapid identification of Co-N coordination types and the spin nature of the metal center in CoN4 SACs.

Dual Gold Nanostructures-Based Stretchable Electrochemiluminescence Sensors for Hydrogen Peroxide Monitoring in Endothelial Mechanotransduction

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) release during blood flow is commonly provoked by the cyclic stretch and dynamic shear stress of endothelial cells and is of vital significance for maintaining vascular function. Flexible and stretchable electrochemical sensors show great capability in retrieving mechanical stimulation-induced H2O2 variation; however, cell secretions, especially electroactive constituents' interferences, remain a big concern for sensing accuracy. Herein, we developed a stretchable electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor by synthesizing L012-reduced gold nanospheres and decorating them onto a polydimethylsiloxane film-supported gold nanotubes substrate (Au NTs/PDMS) to form dual gold nanostructure-modified meshwork interface. Given the specific reaction between L012 and H2O2, the as-prepared Au-L012/Au NTs/PDMS exhibited outstanding selectivity toward H2O2 quantification. Through culturing human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), real-time monitoring of transient H2O2 release from mechanically sensitive HUVECs in stretching states was realized. This work successfully incorporated the ECL sensing model into in situ cellular sensing, therefore expanding the application mode of the ECL approach for health care and biomedical investigation.

Recent Advances in On-Line Mass Spectrometry Toolbox for Mechanistic Studies of Organic Electrochemical Reactions

Electrochemical reactions are very complex and involve a variety of physicochemical processes. Accurate and systematic monitoring of intermediate process changes during the reaction is essential for understanding the mechanism of electrochemical reactions and is the basis for rational design of new electrochemical reactions. On-line electrochemical analysis based on mass spectrometry (MS) has become an important tool for studying electrochemical reactions. This technique is based on different ionization and sampling means and realizes on-line analysis of electrochemical reactions by establishing electrochemistry-MS (EC-MS) coupling devices. In particular, it provides key evidence for elucidating the reaction mechanism by capturing and identifying the reactive reaction intermediates. This review will categorize various EC-MS devices and the organic electrochemical reaction systems they study, highlighting the latest research progress in recent years. It will also analyze the properties of various devices and look forward to the future development of EC-MS.

Ratiometric electrochemiluminescence sensing and intracellular imaging of ClO- via resonance energy transfer

Electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (ECL-RET) is a versatile signal transduction strategy widely used in the fabrication of chem/biosensors. However, this technique has not yet been applied in visualized imaging analysis of intracellular species due to the insulating nature of the cell membrane. Here, we construct a ratiometric ECL-RET analytical method for hypochlorite ions (ClO-) by ECL luminophore, with a luminol derivative (L-012) as the donor and a fluorescence probe (fluorescein hydrazide) as the acceptor. L-012 can emit a strong blue ECL signal and fluorescein hydrazide has negligible absorbance and fluorescence signal in the absence of ClO-. Thus, the ECL-RET process is turned off at this time. In the presence of ClO-, however, the closed-loop hydrazide structure in fluorescein hydrazide is opened via specific recognition with ClO-, accompanied with intensified absorbance and fluorescence signal. Thanks to the spectral overlap between the ECL spectrum of L-012 and the absorption spectrum of fluorescein, the ECL-RET effect is gradually recovered with the addition of ClO-. Furthermore, the ECL-RET system has been successfully applied to image intracellular ClO-. Although the insulating nature of the cell itself can generate a shadow ECL pattern in the cellular region, extracellular ECL emission penetrates the cell membrane and excites intracellular fluorescein generated by the reactions between fluorescein hydrazide and ClO-. The cell imaging strategy via ECL-RET circumvents the blocking of the cell membrane and enables assays of intracellular species. The importance of the ECL-RET platform lies in calibrating the fluctuation from the external environment and improving the selectivity by using fluorescent probes. Therefore, this ratiometric ECL sensor has shown broad application prospects in the identification of targets in clinical diagnosis and environmental monitoring.

Porous Complex-Mediated Dual Emission of Porphyrins for the Electrochemiluminescence Bioassay

Although porphyrins make up a promising class of electrochemiluminescence (ECL) luminophors, their aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) characteristics lead to inferior ECL efficiency (ΦECL). Furthermore, current application of porphyrins is limited to cathodic emission. This work creatively exploited a cage-like porous complex (referred to as SWU-1) as the microreactor to recede the ACQ effect while modulating dual ECL emission of meso-tetra(4-carboxyphenyl)porphine (TCPP), which self-assembled with SWU-1 to form TCPP@SWU-1 nanocapsules (TCPP@SWU-1 NCs). As the microreactor, SWU-1 not only effectively constrained TCPP aggregation to improve electron-hole recombination efficiency but also improved stability of anion and cation radicals, thus significantly enhancing the dual emission of TCPP. Compared with TCPP aggregates, the resulting TCPP@SWU-1 NCs exhibited significantly enhanced anodic and cathodic emission, and their ΦECL was increased by 8.7-fold and 3.9-fold, respectively. Furthermore, black hole quencher-2 (BHQ2) can simultaneously quench anodic and cathodic signals. TCPP@SWU-1 NCs coupling BHQ2 conveniently achieved an ECL ratio detection of miRNA-126, and the limit of detection (S/N = 3) was 4.1 aM. This work pioneered the development of the cage-like porous complex SWU-1 as the microreactor to alleviate defects of the ACQ effect and mediate dual emission of TCPP. The coupling of dual-emitting TCPP@SWU-1 NCs and dual-function moderator BHQ2 created a novel single-luminophor-based ratio system for bioanalysis and provided a promising ECL analysis approach for miRNA-126.

Optics Determines the Electrochemiluminescence Signal of Bead-Based Immunoassays

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is an optical readout technique that is successfully applied for the detection of biomarkers in body fluids using microbead-based immunoassays. This technology is of utmost importance for in vitro diagnostics and thus a very active research area but is mainly focused on the quest for new dyes and coreactants, whereas the investigation of the ECL optics is extremely scarce. Herein, we report the 3D imaging of the ECL signals recorded at single microbeads decorated with the ECL labels in the sandwich immunoassay format. We show that the optical effects due to the light propagation through the bead determine mainly the spatial distribution of the recorded ECL signals. Indeed, the optical simulations based on the discrete dipole approximation compute rigorously the electromagnetic scattering of the ECL emission by the microbead and allow for reconstructing the spatial map of ECL emission. Thus, it provides a global description of the ECL chemical reactivity and the associated optics. The outcomes of this 3D imaging approach complemented by the optical modeling provide insight into the ECL optics and the unique ECL chemical mechanism operating on bead-based immunoassays. Therefore, it opens new directions for mechanistic investigations, ultrasensitive ECL bioassays, and imaging.

Reversibly Tuning Electrochemiluminescence with Stimulated Emission Route for Single-Cell Imaging

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) has established itself as an excellent transduction technique in biosensing and light-emitting device, while conventional ECL mechanism depending on spontaneous emission of luminophores lacks reversibility and tunable emission characters, limiting the universality of ECL technique in the fields of fundamental research and clinical applications. Here, we report the first observation of stimulated emission route in ECL and thus establish a reversible tuning ECL microscopy for single-cell imaging. This microscopy uses a focused red-shifted beam to transfer spontaneous ECL into stimulated ECL, which enables selective and reversible tuning of ECL emission from homogeneous solution, single particles, and single cells. After excluding other possible competitive routes, the stimulated ECL emission route is confirmed by a dual-objective system in which the suppressed spontaneous ECL is accompanied by the enhanced stimulated ECL. By incorporating a commercial donut-shaped beam, the sharpness of single-cell matrix adhesion is improved 2 to 3 times compared with the counterpart in confocal ECL mode. The successful establishment of this stimulated emission ECL will greatly advance the development of light-emitting device and super-resolution ECL microscopy.

All-Optical Electrochemiluminescence

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is widely employed for medical diagnosis and imaging. Despite its remarkable analytical performances, the technique remains intrinsically limited by the essential need for an external power supply and electrical wires for electrode connections. Here, we report an electrically autonomous solution leading to a paradigm change by designing a fully integrated all-optical wireless monolithic photoelectrochemical device based on a nanostructured Si photovoltaic junction modified with catalytic coatings. Under illumination with light ranging from visible to near-infrared, photogenerated holes induce the oxidation of the ECL reagents and thus the emission of visible ECL photons. The blue ECL emission is easily viewed with naked eyes and recorded with a smartphone. A new light emission scheme is thus introduced where the ECL emission energy (2.82 eV) is higher than the excitation energy (1.18 eV) via an intermediate electrochemical process. In addition, the mapping of the photoelectrochemical activity by optical microscopy reveals the minority carrier interfacial transfer mechanism at the nanoscale. This breakthrough provides an all-optical strategy for generalizing ECL without the need for electrochemical setups, electrodes, wiring constraints, and specific electrochemical knowledge. This simplest ECL configuration reported so far opens new opportunities to develop imaging and wireless bioanalytical systems such as portable point-of-care sensing devices.

Voltammetric Study and Modeling of the Electrochemical Oxidation Process and the Adsorption Effects of Luminol and Luminol Derivatives on Glassy Carbon Electrodes

Luminol is one of the most widely used electrochemiluminescence (ECL) reagents, yet the detailed mechanism and kinetics of the electrochemical oxidation of luminol remain unclear. We propose a model that describes the electrochemical oxidation of luminol as multiple electron transfer reactions followed by an irreversible chemical reaction, and we applied a finite element method simulation to analyze the electron transfer kinetics in alkaline solutions. Although negligible at higher pH values, the adsorption of luminol on the glassy carbon electrode became noticeable in a solution with pH = 12. Additionally, various types of adsorption behaviors were observed for luminol derivatives and analogues, indicating that the molecular structure affected not only the oxidation but also the adsorption process. The adsorption effect was analyzed through a model with a Langmuir isotherm to show that the saturated surface concentration as well as the reaction kinetics increased with decreasing pH, suggesting a competition for the active sites between the molecule and OH^-. Moreover, we show that the ECL intensity could be boosted through the adsorption effect by collecting the ECL intensity generated through the electrochemical oxidation of luminol and a luminol analogue, L012, in a solution with pH = 13. In contrast with luminol, a significant adsorption effect was observed for L012 at pH = 13, and the ECL intensity was enhanced by the adsorbed species, especially at higher scan rates. The magnitude of the enhancement of the ECL intensity matched well with the simulation using our model.

A temperature-tuned electrochemiluminescence layer for reversibly imaging cell topography

Investigating electrochemiluminescence (ECL) scenarios under different temperatures is important to expand its imaging scope near an electrode surface. Here, we develop a temperature-tuned ECL layer by recording the evolution of shadow regions of adherent cells. Finite element simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the thickness of the ECL layer (TEL) is reversibly regulated by electrode temperature (T _e), so that single cell topography at different heights is imaged. The TEL in two ECL routes shows different regulation ranges with elevated T _e, thus providing a flexible approach to adjust the imaging scope within specific heights. In addition, a heated electrode significantly improves the image quality of cell adhesion in heterogeneous electrochemical rate-determined situations. Thus, the contrast in cell regions shows a reversible response to T _e. This work provides a new approach to regulate the TEL and is promising for monitoring transient heat generation from biological entities.