Ternary Electrochemiluminescence Nanostructure of\nAu Nanoclusters as a Highly Efficient Signal Label for Ultrasensitive\nDetection of Cancer Biomarkers

Abstract

Herein, the Au nanoclusters (Au NCs) functionalized ternary nanostructure\nwith significant electrochemiluminescence (ECL) emission was first\nproposed to fabricate an ultrasensitive immunosensor for carcinoembryonic\nantigen (CEA) detection, which was established by combining bovine\nserum albumin (BSA) templated Au NCs as the luminophor, tris­(3-aminoethyl)­amine\n(TAEA) as the coreactant, and Pd@CuO nanomaterial as the coreaction\naccelerator via covalent attachment in a nanostructure. Through the\ndual self-catalysis including intramolecular coreaction between TAEA\nand Au NCs, and intramolecular coreaction acceleration from Pd@CuO\nto TAEA, the Au NCs-TAEA-Pd@CuO achieved excellent ECL performance\nso that the detection limit of the immunosensor for measuring CEA\nantigen was down to 16 fg/mL in the absence of any additional signal\namplification assay. Moreover, the method for preparing ECL nanostructure-based\nmetal NCs should be devoted to the development of highly efficient\nECL signal label, outlining a significant scheme toward biological\ntesting and clinical diagnosis.