Ligand and surfactant effects on a novel electrochemiluminescent reaction involving cadmium Original Research Article

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is the generation of light during a chemical reaction with at least one of the reagents being generated in situ at an electrode. Recently, a host of methods have been developed employing ECL reactions as an analytical technique where one of the ECL reagents is the analyte. Electrochemiluminescent reactions involving aqueous metal ions can offer an alternative method for quantitation of dissolved metals. Previous work developed an ECL system using 1,10-phenanthroline as an ECL reagent in conjunction with Cd2+ ions providing sufficient emission for reliable cadmium detection. This paper explores the effects of ligand modification, choice of surfactant, and the interaction between the surfactant and the co-reactant tripropylamine (TPA). The effectiveness of the reagents tested can be ranked as phenanthroline, bathophenanthroline salt, terpyridine, dimethylphenanthroline, and bipyridine in order of decreasing Cd2+ specific ECL emissions. The non-ionic surfactants Triton X-100, Thesit, and Nonidet P40 were surveyed.