Double signal amplification sandwich-structured immunosensor based on TiO_2 nanoparticles enhanced CdSe@ZnS QDs electrochemiluminescence and the dramatic quenching effect of Au@polydopamine nanoparticles

In this work, a double signal amplified immunosen- sor based on the enhanced CdSe@ZnS quantum dots （QDs） electrochemiluminescence （ECL） via TiO2 nanoparticles （TiO2 NPs） and the outstanding quencher of polydopamine （PDA） decorated Au nanoparticles （Au@PDA NPs） for ultrasensitive detection of carcinoembryonic antigen （CEA） has been successfully achieved. The ECL of CdSe@ZnS QDs with different sizes has been investigated carefully, especially cooperation with TiO2 NPs. Au@PDA NPs have been synthesized and characterized by transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and UV-Vis spectrum, which acted as ECL quenchers to label the secondary antibody （Ab2） of CEA to form Ab2/Au@PDA NPs conjugates. The sandwich-structured immunosensor was formed between capture antibody （Abl） on CdSe@ZnS QDs/TiO2 NPs/glassy carbon electrode, CEA and Ab2/Au@PDA NPs conjugates, resulting in a proportional ECL quenching signal relevant to the CEA concentration. Thus, CEA as a model biomarker has been detected in the linear range from 0.001 to 100 ng mL^-1 with a limit of detection of 0.35 pg mL^-1 （S/N = 3）.

Multicolor electrochemiluminescence of core-shell CdSe@ZnS quantum dots based on the size effect

Multicolor electrochemiluminescence(ECL) of semiconductor nanocrystals tuned by size effect has been successfully achieved using quantum dots(QDs) with core-shell structure for the first time. It would open a new way and provide a guidance for design and preparation of stable and strong multicolor ECL emitters for simultaneous multicomponent analysis application.

Facile and large-scale synthesis of green-emitting carbon nanodots from aspartame and the applications for ferric ions sensing and cell imaging

A facile, economical and green strategy to prepare green-fluorescent nitrogen-doped carbon nanodots （N- CDs） with a quantum yield （QY） of approximately 31.91% has been built up, while aspartame was employed as the carbon-nitrogen source for the first time. The prepared N-CDs exhibited ultrahigh brightness, favorable strong photostability and negligible cytotoxicity. The outstanding optical properties are mainly derived from the their robost composition and steric distribution of the doped nitrogen atoms, which have been characterized detailedly. The obtained N-CDs showed highly selective and sensitive response toward ferric ions （Fe3＋） through a fluorescence static quenching process in a wide linear range of 0.005-60 μmol/L. The detection limit was as low as 1.43 nmol/L, allowing the analysis of Fe3＋ in a very simple method. The excitation-dependent luminescent behavior of the obtained N-CDs guaranteed the multicolor emissive property when they were used in cell imaging. And the application for intracellular Fe3＋ sensing further verified this novel N-CDs may open more opportunities in biosensor, bioimaging and biological assay.