Issue 1, 2020

Amplified electrochemiluminescence signals promoted by the AIE-active moiety of D–A type polymer dots for biosensing

Abstract

Three-component conjugated polymers of a strong donor–acceptor (D–A) type could be synthesized by Pd-catalyzed Suzuki coupling polymerization reaction of 1,2-bis(4-bromophenyl)-1,2-diphenylethene (M-1) with 9-octyl-3,6-bis(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolan-2-yl)-9H-carbazole (M-2) and 4,6-bis((E)-4-bromostyryl)-2,2-difluoro-5-phenyl-2H-1l3,3,2l4-dioxaborinine (M-3). Among them, P-1 and P-2 with high TPE ratios at 0.95 and 0.9 showed obvious aggregation-induced emission (AIE) behavior; in contrast P-3 with a low TPE ratio at 0.8 showed an aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) phenomenon. In particular, the three resulting polymer dots (P-1 to P-3 Pdots) exhibited a 200 mV lower electrochemiluminescence (ECL) potential due to their strong D–A electronic structure. Most importantly, the ECL signals of Pdots could be enhanced as high as 3 times by increasing their AIE-active TPE moiety ratios from 0.8 (P-3) to 0.95 (P-1) via the band gap emission process. Herein, P-1 Pdots with the strongest ECL signal were successfully used as ECL biosensors for the detection of catechol, epinephrine and dopamine with detection limits of 1, 7 and 3 nM, respectively. This work provides a new strategy for developing highly sensitive ECL biosensors by the smart structure design of the AIE-active Pdots.

Graphical abstract: Amplified electrochemiluminescence signals promoted by the AIE-active moiety of D–A type polymer dots for biosensing

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 oct. 2019
Accepted
08 nov. 2019
First published
08 nov. 2019

Analyst, 2020,145, 233-239

Amplified electrochemiluminescence signals promoted by the AIE-active moiety of D–A type polymer dots for biosensing

Z. Wang, N. Wang, H. Gao, Y. Quan, H. Ju and Y. Cheng, Analyst, 2020, 145, 233 DOI: 10.1039/C9AN01992H

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