Transparent carbon nanotube network for efficient electrochemiluminescence devices

Abstract

A carbon nanotube-based electrode that combines transparency and good conductivity was used for the first time to develop an electrochemiluminescence (ECL) device. It resulted in an excellent material for ECL applications thanks to the very favorable overpotential of amine oxidation that represents the rate-determining step for the signal generation in both research systems and commercial instrumentation. The use of carbon nanotubes resulted in a ten times higher emission efficiency compared with commercial transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes. Moreover, application of this material for proof-of-principle ECL imaging was demonstrated, in which micro-beads were used to mimic a real biological sample in order to prove the possibility of obtaining single cell visualization.

Keywords: chemiluminescence; electrochemistry; imaging; nanotubes; transparent electrodes.