9,10-Diphenylanthracene cubic nanoparticles (DPA CNPs) with aggregation-induced emission characteristic (AIEgens) were synthesized through a facile reprecipitation method; then, a bright and stable electrochemiluminescence (ECL) signal can be observed when the DPA CNPs were modified at the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) in the presence of Tri-n-propylamine (TPA). This phenomenon is ascribed to the molecules with restricted movement that greatly blocked the energy leakage during the relaxation of the excited state, which facilitated the emission of energy in the form of photons. In addition, the size confinement effect of DPA CNPs in the aggregated state effectively enhanced the ECL emission. The application of DPA CNPs with AIE characteristics in an electrochemiluminescence immunosensor has not been reported. In this contribution, a free-label aggregation-induced electrochemiluminescence immunosensor based on DPA CNPs was fabricated and a simple strategy for ultrasensitive detection of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) was proposed. The ECL signal is quenched linearly in the range of 0.01 pg/mL to 100 ng/mL for AFB1, and the detection limit is 3 fg/mL. In summary, the prepared sensor exhibits high sensitivity, acceptable accuracy, good anti-interference ability and stability, and satisfactory detection toward AFB1 in walnut samples. Therefore, the fabricated immunosensor will have significant applications in the fields of food, medicine, and so on.

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