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Electrochemiluminescence reaction pathways in nanofluidic devices

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Abstract

Nanofluidic electrochemical devices confine the volume of chemical reactions to femtoliters. When employed for light generation by electrochemiluminescence (ECL), nanofluidic confinement yields enhanced intensity and robust luminescence. Here, we investigate different ECL pathways, namely coreactant and annihilation ECL in a single nanochannel and compare light emission profiles. By high-resolution imaging of electrode areas, we show that different reaction schemes produce very different emission profiles in the unique confined geometry of a nanochannel. The confrontation of experimental results with finite element simulation gives further insight into the exact reaction ECL pathways. We find that emission strongly depends on depletion, geometric exclusion, and recycling of reactants in the nanofluidic device.

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Author notes

  1. Silvia Voci and Hanan Al-Kutubi contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bordeaux INP, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, ISM, UMR 5255, Site ENSCBP, 16, Avenue Pey-Berland, 33607, Pessac, France

    Silvia Voci & Neso Sojic

  2. Department of Radiation Science and Technology, Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 15, 2629 JB, Delft, The Netherlands

    Hanan Al-Kutubi

  3. Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Liza Rassaei

  4. Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Analysis, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 196, 9700 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Klaus Mathwig

  5. Department of Chemistry, South Ural State University, Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation, 454080

    Neso Sojic

Authors
  1. Silvia Voci
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  2. Hanan Al-Kutubi
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  3. Liza Rassaei
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  4. Klaus Mathwig
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  5. Neso Sojic
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Klaus Mathwig or Neso Sojic.

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Voci, S., Al-Kutubi, H., Rassaei, L. et al. Electrochemiluminescence reaction pathways in nanofluidic devices. Anal Bioanal Chem 412, 4067–4075 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-020-02630-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-020-02630-8

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