title: Revealing carbon nanodots as coreactants of the anodic electrochemiluminescence of Ru(bpy)₃²⁺.
abstract: Recently, research on carbon nanodots (C-dots), a new type of luminescent nanoparticles with superior optical properties, biocompatibility, and low cost, has been focused on exploring novel properties and structure-related mechanisms to extend their scope. Herein, electrochemiluminescence, a surface-sensitive tool, is used to probe the unrevealed property of carbon nanodots which is characterized by surface oxygen-containing groups. Together with chemiluminescence, carbon nanodots as the coreactants for the anodic electrochemiluminescence of Ru(bpy)3(2+) are demonstrated for the first time. During the anodic scan, the benzylic alcohol units on the C-dots surface are oxidized "homogeneously" by electrogenerated-Ru(bpy)3(3+) to form reductive radical intermediate, which further reduce Ru(bpy)3(3+) into Ru(bpy)3(2+)* that produces a strong ECL emission. This work has provided an insight into the ECL mechanism of the C-dots-involved system, which will be beneficial for in-depth understanding of some peculiar phenomena of C-dots, such as photocatalytic activity and redox properties. Moreover, because of the features of C-dots, the ECL system of Ru(bpy)3(2+)/C-dots is more promising in the bioanalysis.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Biology and Medicine (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Virology, and Wuhan Institute of Biotechnology, Wuhan University , Wuhan, 430072, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yan-Min
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Jing-Ya
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Zhi-Ling
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Dai-Wen
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Pang
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D004566:Electrodes; D049449:Luminescence; D049329:Nanostructures
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon