Supersensitive detection of chlorinated phenols by multiple amplification electrochemiluminescence sensing based on carbon quantum dots/graphene.

A novel electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor based on carbon quantum dots (CQDs) immobilized on graphene (GR) has been first developed for the determination of chlorinated phenols (CPs) in water. The detection is based on the ECL signals from the interaction between the analytes and the excited CQDs (C(+)) using S2O8(2-) as coreactant. GR facilitates both C(•-) and SO4(•-) production, resulting in a high yield of C(+), and the multistage amplification effect leads to a nearly 48-fold ECL amplification. Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is often monitored as an important indicator for CPs in real environmental samples, but its ultratrace and real-time analysis is an intractable issue in environmental monitoring. The resulting ECL sensor enables the real-time detection of PCP with unprecedented sensitivity reaching 1.0 × 10(-12) M concentration in a wide linear range from 1.0 × 10(-12) to 1.0 × 10(-8) M. The ECL sensor showed high selectivity to CPs, especially to PCP. The practicability of the sensing platform in real water samples showed ideal recovery rates. It is envisaged that the eco-friendly and recyclable sensor could be employed in the identification of key CPs in the environment.