Gold Nanorod Enhanced Fluorescence Enables Single-Molecule Electrochemistry of Methylene Blue

Weichun Zhang; Martín Caldarola; Biswajit Pradhan; Michel Orrit

doi:10.1002/anie.201612389

Gold Nanorod Enhanced Fluorescence Enables Single-Molecule Electrochemistry of Methylene Blue

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2017 Mar 20;56(13):3566-3569. doi: 10.1002/anie.201612389. Epub 2017 Feb 23.

Authors

Weichun Zhang¹, Martín Caldarola¹, Biswajit Pradhan¹, Michel Orrit¹

Affiliation

¹ Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, 2300, RA, Leiden, The Netherlands.

PMID: 28229510
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201612389

Abstract

Redox reactions are central to energy conversion and life metabolism. Herein we present electrochemical measurements with fluorescent readout of the redox-sensitive dye Methylene Blue (MB), at the single-molecule (SM) level. To overcome the low fluorescence quantum yield of MB we enhanced fluorescence by using individual gold nanorods to achieve the required sensitivity. By measuring the same molecule at different electrochemical potentials we determined the mid-point potential of each single molecule through its redox-induced fluorescence blinking dynamics.

Keywords: electrochemistry; enhanced fluorescence; gold nanorods; methylene blue; single-molecule studies.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't