Progress in spectrum-based electrochemiluminescence quantitative analysis

Abstract

<p indent="0mm">Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is the light emission triggered by electrochemical redox, and has been developed as an analytical technology with the combined merits of electrochemistry and chemiluminescence. ECL has been widely used in varied domains, but unfortunately its intensity usually changes along with the proceeding of electrochemical reaction, which makes it difficult to accurately determine ECL spectrum in a wavelength-scanning way with photomultiplier tube (PMT) as detector. The PMT-based traditional ECL analyzers are commonly designed with a dispersion-free architecture and can only perform ECL analysis in a total light intensity-detecting way. The development of ECL spectrum analyzer and corresponding technologies is being achieved in an alternative way by employing a grating as dispersion device and a charge-coupled device (CCD) as a detector, which can record the ECL by exposing the dispersed ECL to CCD, and figure out the corresponding spectrum with varied elements of CCD. This article briefed the developing history of ECL setups, reviewed the progress of monochromatic ECL systems, technologies and devices qualified for spectrum-resolved ECL quantitative analysis, and also prospected the development of spectrum-resolved ECL quantitative analysis as well as the industrialization and localization of ECL spectrum analyzers.