Controllable and Low-Loss Electrochemiluminescence Waveguide Supported by a Micropipette Electrode

Yingying Xu; Xiaojin Huang; Yulan Wang; Weiyu Qu; Weiliang Guo; Bin Su; Zhihui Dai

doi:10.1021/jacs.3c12913

Controllable and Low-Loss Electrochemiluminescence Waveguide Supported by a Micropipette Electrode

J Am Chem Soc. 2024 Feb 28;146(8):5423-5432. doi: 10.1021/jacs.3c12913. Epub 2024 Feb 14.

Authors

Yingying Xu¹, Xiaojin Huang¹, Yulan Wang¹, Weiyu Qu¹, Weiliang Guo¹, Bin Su², Zhihui Dai^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomedical Functional Materials and Key Laboratory of Biofunctional Materials of Jiangsu Province, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, P. R. China.
² Institution of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, P. R. China.
³ School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, P. R. China.

PMID: 38354221
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c12913

Abstract

One-dimensional molecular crystal waveguide (MCW) can transmit self-generated electrochemiluminescence (ECL), but heavy optical loss occurs because of the small difference in the refractive index between the crystal and its surroundings. Herein, we report a micropipette electrode-supported MCW (MPE/MCW) for precisely controlling the far-field transmission of ECL in air with a low optical loss. ECL is generated from one terminal of the MCW positioned inside the MPE, which is transmitted along the MCW to the other terminal in air. In comparison with conventional waveguides on solid substrates or in solutions, the MPE/MCW is propitious to the total internal reflection of light at the MCW/air interface, thus confining the ECL efficiently in MCW and improving the waveguide performance with an extremely low-loss coefficient of 4.49 × 10^-3 dB μm^-1. Moreover, by regulation of the gas atmosphere, active and passive waveguides can be resolved simultaneously inside MPE and in air. This MPE/MCW offers a unique advantage of spatially controlling and separating ECL signal readout from its generation, thus holding great promise in biosensing without or with less electrical/chemical disturbance.