Advancing Luminescent Technologies: Novel Electrochemiluminescence and Chemiluminescence Studies for Analytical Applications

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is the emission of light from excited molecules generated by electron transfer between radicals electrogenerated. Chemiluminescence (CL) is light emitted from chemical reactions between a luminor and coreactant. Four pyrene-based donor-acceptor complexes have been investigated to determine their redox potentials and the mechanisms of various ECL pathways using modern analytical methods: spooling ECL spectroscopy, ECL voltage curves, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Their absolute quantum efficiencies (ΦECL) have been successfully determined in both annihilation and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) coreactant routes. A novel instrumentation strategy using a spectrometer and integrating sphere has been utilized for the first time to determine absolute CL efficiencies of luminol/hydrogen peroxide systems along with spectral evolution and devolution. CL properties of abundant chlorophyll has been investigated as well, along with its absolute quantum efficiency for the first time.