Issue 6, 2024

Infrared photoinduced electrochemiluminescence microscopy of single cells

Abstract

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is evolving rapidly from a purely analytical technique into a powerful microscopy. Herein, we report the imaging of single cells by photoinduced ECL (PECL; λem = 620 nm) stimulated by an incident near-infrared light (λexc = 1050 nm). The cells were grown on a metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) n-Si/SiOx/Ir photoanode that exhibited stable and bright PECL emission. The large anti-Stokes shift allowed for the recording of well-resolved images of cells with high sensitivity. PECL microscopy is demonstrated at a remarkably low onset potential of 0.8 V; this contrasts with classic ECL, which is blind at this potential. Two imaging modes are reported: (i) photoinduced positive ECL (PECL+), showing the cell membranes labeled with the [Ru(bpy)3]2+ complex; and (ii) photoinduced shadow label-free ECL (PECL−) of cell morphology, with the luminophore in the solution. Finally, by adding a new dimension with the near-infrared light stimulus, PECL microscopy should find promising applications to image and study single photoactive nanoparticles and biological entities.

Graphical abstract: Infrared photoinduced electrochemiluminescence microscopy of single cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
08 nov 2023
Accepted
07 dec 2023
First published
08 dec 2023
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2024,15, 2055-2061

Infrared photoinduced electrochemiluminescence microscopy of single cells

J. Descamps, Y. Zhao, B. Goudeau, D. Manojlovic, G. Loget and N. Sojic, Chem. Sci., 2024, 15, 2055 DOI: 10.1039/D3SC05983A

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