Yellow electrochemiluminescence emission from hydrophilic poly[(9,9-di-(2-ethylhexyl)-9H-fluorene-2,7-vinylene)-co-(1-methoxy-4-(2-ethylhe-xyloxy)-2,5-phenylenevinylene)] (PFV) conjugated polymer dots capped with Triton X-100 in aqueous solution

Abstract

We synthesized new, yellow-light emitting, and hydrophilic poly[(9,9-di-(2-ethylhexyl)-9H-fluorene-2,7-vinylene)-co-(1-methoxy-4-(2-ethylhe-xyloxy)-2,5-phenylenevinylene)] conjugated polymer dots capped with nonionic surfactant Triton X-100 (PFV CP-dots@TX), immobilized them on glassy carbon electrodes and studied their electrochemiluminescence (ECL) behaviors and mechanisms in aqueous solutions. The ECL activities of the hydrophilic CP-dots were investigated by applying the glassy carbon working electrode with pulse potential between anodic and cathodic potentials in the absence of coreactant, with sweeping anodic potential in the presence of Tri-n-propylamine (TPrA) as the coreactant, and with sweeping cathodic potential in the presence of peroxydisulfate (S2O82−) as the coreactant. Experimental results shows that PFV CP-dots@TX have good annihilation ECL activity, anodic ECL activity and cathodic ECL activity. All of the three types of ECL reactions emit yellow light with the maximum wavelength of 573nm, which is the same as the fluorescence emission spectrum of PFV CP-dots@TX in water. The energies involved in the ECL reactions were analyzed and non-surface state ECL mechanisms were discussed and proposed. The yellow light-emitting, hydrophilic CP-dots are envisioned to be a new type of ECL luminophores that may have promising applications in chemical sensing, biosensing and new optoelectronic devices.