Huixin Zhang, Lin Du, Zhihao Wei, Xuemei Wang, Neso Sojic, Xin Zhou, Zonghua Wang
Anal. Bioanal. Chem., 2022, DOi: 10.1007/s00216-022-04365-0
Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of luminol is a well-established methodology in analytical chemistry and bioimaging. Developing novel strategies to enhance the ECL signal of this model emitter is a challenging but rewarding task. In this work, we introduced the high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), as a pretreatment means and a non-invasive way to trigger and boost the ECL signal with a 40-fold significant enhancement in the luminol-O2 system without the addition of exogenous co-reactants. The superoxide anion (O2−•) generated in situ by HIFU was the key initiator for boosting the ECL emission as demonstrated in this study for the first time. This promising co-reactant-free strategy could find potential applications for ultrasensitive ECL detection in the analysis of complex biological entities.
