ECL emission of non-stoichiometric quaternary Zn-Cu-In-S QDs.

Non-stoichiometric colloidal quaternary Zn-Cu-In-S quantum dots (QDs) with different Cu content were prepared by a hot injection method and the enhanced electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) were presented. Zn-Cu-In-S QDs were characterised by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis, photoluminescence (PL) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). XRD results revealed the compositional homogeneity of the Zn-Cu-In-S QDs. Average particle size of Zn-Cu-In-S QDs samples were 2.3-2.8 nm. The HRTEM analysis indicated the high crystallinity. The ICP-MS measurements confirmed that the compositions of Zn-Cu-In-S QDs could be controlled precisely. Zn-Cu-In-S QDs were coated on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate (TBAPF6). The ECL of Zn-Cu-In-S QDs were observed, which possessed extremely increase with tripropyl amine added as the coreactant. The ECL of Zn-Cu-In-S QDs were attribute to the copper related surface state. The Zn-Cu-In-S QDs modified GCE exhibited excellent ECL properties, environmentally-friendly and good stability, which implied further promising applications in bioanalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]