Effects of type of binder and conducting phase on the performance of solid‐state electrochemiluminescence composites

The electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of tris(2,2‐bipyridyl)ruthenium [Ru(bpy)₃]²⁺ has received much attention. By immobilizing [Ru(bpy)₃]²⁺ on an electrode surface, solid‐state ECL has several advantages over solution‐phase ECL, such as reduced amounts of costly reagent and a simplified experimental design. Herein, different types of solid‐state ECL sensors were fabricated and the performances of paraffin oil and two ionic liquids (ILs) as the binders were compared for the construction of solid‐state ECL. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), CCD camera, UV–vis, fluorescence spectroscopy, electrochemistry and ECL were applied to characterize and evaluate the performance of the solid‐state composites. According to the obtained results, Ru–graphite/IL octyl pyridinium hexaflurophosphate (OPPF₆) was introduced as a new solid‐state ECL with excellent properties such as simple preparation, low background current, fast electron‐transfer rate and good reproducibility and stability. Moreover, for a study of the effect of carbon structure on the performance of the electrode, graphite was replaced by multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and Ru–MWCNT/OPPF₆ was constructed and its efficiency was compared with Ru–graphite/OPPF₆ composite electrode. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.