A New Chemiluminescence Assay for Hypochlorite Detection in Water: A Synergistic Combination of WS2 Quantum Dots and Luminol

The issue of the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the concentration of oxidising species in aquatic environments is crucial for a wide range of biological and environmental tasks. In particular, reactive chlorine species, specifically hypochlorite (ClO−), play a significant biochemical role in the operation of the immune system. There is also the challenge of determining the presence of ClO− in purified drinking water that is supplied by water treatment systems. Traditional chemical analytical methods often lack the required selectivity and sensitivity to detect oxidising compounds, and chemiluminescence-based techniques offer an alternative solution. In this study, we propose a simple and selective approach for the chemiluminescent detection of hypochlorite in aqueous media under neutral conditions. The technique is based on measuring a chemiluminescent signal generated in the presence of hypochlorite by a combined probe comprising commercially available WS2 quantum dots and luminol. The oxidation of WS2 with hypochlorite followed by a reaction with luminol results in an intense luminescent signal that enables the selective determination of hypochlorite under neutral conditions. The greatest sensitivity with this method was achieved when combining WS2 quantum dots with L-012, a highly sensitive analogue of luminol. Additionally, the use of L-012 improved the detection limit for hypochlorite to 2 × 10−6 M. Due to its selectivity in determining hypochlorite in the presence of reactive oxygen species (hydrogen peroxide) under neutral conditions with high sensitivity and with a wide linear range, the proposed approach provides an attractive analytical tool for the analysis of water samples and biological liquids.