Enhanced Electrochemiluminescence of One-Dimensional Self-Assembled Porphyrin Hexagonal Nanoprisms

In this work, we synthesized the one-dimensional nanostructure of zinc 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-pyridyl)-21H,23H-porphine (ZnTPyP) via a self-assembly technique. Using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as “soft template”, the self-assembled ZnTPyP (SA-ZnTPyP) had the morphology of hexagonal nanoprisms with a uniform size (diameter of 100 nm). The SA-ZnTPyP exhibited remarkably different spectral properties compared to those of the original ZnTPyP. The as-prepared SA-ZnTPyP was used to modify glassy carbon electrodes (GCE), and the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) behaviors of the SA-ZnTPyP/GCE were investigated. The hydrophilic carbon dots (C-dots) could efficiently prevent the dissolution of SA-ZnTPyP in DMF containing 0.1 mol L–1 TBAP and, simultaneously, could accelerate electron transfer. Therefore, the enhanced ECL was realized by C-dots/SA-ZnTPyP/GCE by using H2O2 as co-reactant. This amplification of ECL was further studied by ECL spectroscopies and cyclic voltammetry, and the corresponding mechanism was proposed.