Electrochemiluminescence of 1,8-Naphthalimide-Modified Carbon Nitride for Cu2+ Detection

It is essential to screen novel luminophores and co-reactants for the development of electrochemiluminescence (ECL) systems. In this work, a series of 1,8-naphthalimide-modified graphitic carbon nitride (CN/1,8-NDIx) ECL luminophores were successfully developed for the quantitative determination of Cu2+ with K2S2O8 as a co-reactant. When CN/1,8-NDIx was immobilized on the surface of the glassy carbon electrode (GCE), a strong ECL signal could be produced (at a potential of − 1.3 V vs. Ag/AgCl), which was threefold stronger than that of unmodified g-C3N4. The intensity of ECL could be linearly quenched by Cu2+ over a concentration range from 5 × 10−9 to 1 × 10−4 mol/L, and with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.86 nmol/L. Our results may provide a new perspective on the novel ECL platforms development.