Quantum dots-enhanced chemiluminescence: Mechanism and application

• Highlight mechanisms of QDs in chemiluminescence reaction.
• Discuss ultraweak chemiluminescence systems enhanced by different composition of QDs.
• Describe photoelectrochemical property of QDs in chemiluminescence.
• Summarize analytical applications of QDs-based CRET.

Quantum dots (QDs) with excellent optical and electronic properties have been the potential alternatives of chemiluminescence (CL) emitters. CL generates from the excited QDs which is formed by electron- and hole-injection after direct oxidation. We successfully realize the QDs-enhanced CL from different ultraweak CL systems, such as hydrogen peroxide mixing with NaHCO3, NaHSO3, NaNO2, NaClO, NaIO4, and so on. Mechanisms and applications of these QDs-enhanced CL were discussed, and we found that QDs can also participate in CL reactions as catalysts or energy acceptor, or a direct QDs oxidation and energy transfer taking place simultaneously to enhance the CL intensity. In this paper, the recent advance in QDs-based chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (CRET) is comprehensively summarized and their applications in the detection of small biological molecules, the analysis of DNA and protein, cell imaging and immunoassays are reviewed. The challenges and future prospects of this field are also discussed.

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