A sensitive electrochemiluminescence immunosensor based on luminophore capped Pd@Au core-shell nanoparticles as signal tracers and ferrocenyl compounds as signal enhancers

In this work, N-(aminobutyl)-N-(ethylisoluminol) (ABEI), an analogue of luminol, is served as both the reductant and luminescence reagent to synthesize ABEI capped Pd@Au core-shell nanoparticles (ABEI-Pd@AuNPs). The nanoparticles not only exhibit inherent electrochemiluminescence (ECL) property, but also possess advantages of noble-metal nanomaterials such as outstanding electronic property, high specific surface area and good biocompatibility. In order to enhance the luminescence efficiency, ferrocene monocarboxylic acid (Fc) as catalyzer is grafted on the surface of ABEI-Pd@AuNPs with the aid of l-cysteine (l-Cys). When the Fc is electrochemically oxidized to ferricinium cation species (Fc+), the decomposition of H2O2 which existed in detection solution can be catalyzed by Fc+ to generate oxygen-related free radicals, resulting effective signal amplification for ABEI-H2O2 system. For potential applications, the Pd@Au core-shell nanoparticles bifunctionalized by ABEI and catalyzer are employed as nano-carriers to immobilize detection antibody (Ab2). Based on sandwiched immunoreactions, a “signal-on” ECL immunosensor is developed for detection of human collagen type IV (Col IV), a potential biomarker associated with diabetic nephropathy. Consequently, the proposed immunosensor provides a wide linear detection ranging from 1 pg mL−1 to 10 ng mL−1 with a relatively low detection limit of 0.3 pg mL−1 (S/N=3).