Comparison study of electrochemiluminescence of boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes in aprotic and aqueous solutions

Boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dye molecules are well known for their excellent absorption and emission optical properties. Here, we report the results of an electrochemical and electrochemiluminescence (ECL) study of an organic-soluble and a water-soluble BODIPY dye to explore their effectiveness as ECL luminophores. A combination of UV–visible, fluorescence, and spooling ECL spectroscopy was used to study the mechanisms of ECL light emission. It was discovered that excimers, the excited states of analyte dimers, contributed significantly to the production of ECL. These BODIPY molecules exhibited relatively weak ECL efficiencies following the annihilation mechanism. However, ECL was enhanced with co-reactants such as persulfate, and tri-n-propylamine. Spooling ECL spectroscopy was utilized to gain analytical insight into light emission mechanisms. It is shown that while these two BODIPY compounds can form photoinduced excited monomers, excimers were generated mainly in their co-reactant ECL pathways.