Quantum dot-based photoelectric conversion for biosensing applications

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2014.12.007Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Quantum dot-based electrochemiluminescence and photoelectrochemical biosensing.

  • Quantum dots as nanoemitters for electrochemiluminescence-sensing systems

  • Quantum dot-based photoelectrochemical biosensing mechanisms and applications.

  • Electrochemiluminescence and photoelectrochemical techniques for cancer diagnostics.

  • Electrochemiluminescence and photoelectrochemical techniques in cancer therapeutics.

Abstract

As semiconductor nanocrystals, quantum dots (QDs) have attracted great interest in recent years in chemical and biological detection due to their attractive optoelectronic characteristics. Biosensing of QD-based photoelectric conversion mainly includes electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensing. Different authors have published overviews of bioanalytical applications of QDs. However, there has been no specific review on the use of QD-based systems for ECL and PEC bioanalysis. In this overview, we review novel methods and sensing principles based on using QDs for ECL and PEC sensing. We then provide an outlook on the future of the QD-based ECL and PEC biosensors.

Introduction

Quantum dots (QDs), as one kind of semiconductor nanocrystal, comprise a new type of luminescent nanomaterial, which has been very popular in recent years. The range of this nanoparticle (NP) size is usually 2–20 nm. QDs have unique, superior physical and chemical properties, which are widely used in optics, electronics, catalysis and biology [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6]. Based on these properties, applications of QDs in electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) biosensing attracted great interest in recent years [7], [8], [9], [10], [11].

ECL is a technique using optical emissions from the excited states of luminescent substances generated from electrode surfaces through an applied potential [12], [13], [14]. Since the first ECL phenomena from silicon-QDs was reported in 2002 [15], QD-based ECL-sensing strategies have been developed. Many QD-based ECL emitters (e.g., II-VI, III-V and IV-VI nanocrystalline) have been employed to fabricate many ECL biosensors to detect biomolecules.

ECL converts electrochemical energy into luminous energy around the electrode surface. Conversely, the process of PEC detection is just the reverse of ECL: the light is used as the excitation source and the photocurrent as the detection signal. Under illumination, charge separation and transfer of the photoelectroactive species on the surface of the electrode will occur and hence generate electric signal in the electrolyte solution consisting of the specific electron donor or acceptor. Thus, the photoelectroactive materials are one of the most crucial factors in the performance of PEC sensors.

QDs with unique photoelectric features have also attracted considerable attention in PEC sensing. Attributed to the separated energy form between the excitation source and the resulting signal, ECL and PEC sensors possess excellent sensitivity with low background signals. Moreover, by integrating the advantages of electrochemistry and optical methods, ECL and PEC have been extensively used in immunoassay, DNA analysis, biomolecule detection, clinical diagnosis, cell analysis, and environmental monitoring [7], [8], [9], [16], [17], [18], [19].

We discuss the application of QDs as emitters or photoactive materials in construction of ECL and PEC biosensors. We focus attention on the principles and the demonstration of intriguing applications of QD-based ECL and PEC. Finally, we give a brief outlook on the future development of ECL and PEC sensors based on QDs.

Section snippets

Mechanism of ECL emission of QDs

In the QD-ECL process, species produced at the electrode surface involve high-energy electron-transfer reactions and form excited states that emit light. Two kinds of mechanism are mainly involved in ECL emission (i.e., annihilation mechanism and coreactant mechanism).

ECL-biosensing system for binary-component QDs

Binary-component QDs are composed of metallic elements and non-metallic elements (I and II subgroups and IV and VI main groups, respectively). Many QDs can produce ECL, but, due to the limitations of the solution potential window, few QDs can be successfully applied in detection in practice. This minority of QDs, which are suitable for practical application, includes CdS-QDs, CdSe-QDs and CdTe-QDs, which we introduce successively as follows.

QD-based PEC-biosensing mechanisms and applications

The developed PEC biosensing methods mainly involve five mechanisms:

  • 1

    biorecognition events employed to influence the signaling of previously established sensing systems;

  • 2

    using the catalytic action of enzymes for PEC bioassays;

  • 3

    PEC-based energy-transfer assays;

  • 4

    QDs as labels for PEC bioassays; and,

  • 5

    PEC biosensing without external irradiation.

Conclusions and perspectives

The excellent optical and electrical properties of QDs arouse much interest and make them a promising material in nanobiotechnology. Moreover, many advantages of QDs have been found in subsequent studies, such as stability against photobleaching, size-controllability, and high fluorescence yields, and underpin their potential applications to the construction of biosensors.

Although comparatively new ECL emitters, QDs have already presented a completely novel sensing platform. QDs are competent

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21405072, 21227008, and 21275086), the Project of Shandong Province Higher Educational Science and Technology Program (J14LC14 and J14LC15), and the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (PCSIRT, teaching skill letter [2011] no. 88).

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