Development of electrochemiluminescent inhibition method for determination of gentian violet in aquatic water

Gentian violet (GV) was found to quench the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of the tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II)/tris-n-propylamine (Ru(bpy)32+-TPA) system at a glass carbon electrode (GCE). Based on the ECL signal changes, a simple and ultrasensitive detection method for GV in aquatic water was established. Under the optimized conditions, the quenched ECL intensity versus the logarithm of the concentration of GV was linear over a concentration range from 1.0 × 10−10 to 5.0 × 10−7 mol L−1, and the limit of detection (LOD) was found to be 4.5 × 10−12 mol L−1 (S/N = 3). The results obtained by the ECL system were better than other reported methods in literatures in terms of sensitivity or linear response range. The method was successfully applied to determine GV in aquatic water, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were found less than 6.3%, and the recoveries were obtained from 98.7 to 111.0%. Moreover, a possible mechanism of the quenching effect was primarily discussed based on UV–visible absorption spectra, cyclic voltammograms and IECL–E curves.

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