Blue Microfluidic Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence Cell Using a Fluorescent Emitter and a Redox Mediator

We constructed a novel blue fluorescent microfluidic electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) cell by employing a distyrylarylene derivative, 1,4-bis[2-(9-ethylcarbazol-3-yl)vinyl]benzene (BCzVB) and an anthracene derivative 10,10’-di(biphenyl-4-yl)-9,9‘-bianthracene (BANE). In order to balance the radical anion and cation in the ECL solution, BANE was utilized as a redox mediator. The microfluidic cell, whose configuration is indium tin oxide (ITO) anode/BCzVB:BANE solution/fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) cathode, was fabricated by a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) process. It was found that the ECL intensity arising from the excited BCzVB was significantly enhanced by adding BANE to the BCzVB solution. A maximum luminance and a maximum current efficiency reached 15 cd/m<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> and 1.4 cd/A, respectively, at 4.5 V. Additionally, Commission Internationale de I'Éclairage (CIE) coordinates (0.16, 0.17) were obtained at 5.0 V. The reason for the improved cell performance was investigated by cyclic voltammetry measurements.