Marine toxins appear to be increasing in many areas of the world. An emerging problem in the Mediterranean Sea is represented by palytoxin (PlTX), one of the most potent marine toxins, frequently detected in seafood. Due to the high potential for human toxicity of PlTX, there is a strong and urgent need for sensitive methods toward its detection and quantification. We have developed an ultrasensitive electrochemiluminescence-based sensor for the detection of PlTX, taking advantage of the specificity provided by anti-PlTX antibodies, the good conductive properties of carbon nanotubes, and the excellent sensitivity achieved by a luminescence-based transducer. The sensor was able to produce a concentration-dependent light signal, allowing PlTX quantification in mussels, with a limit of quantification (LOQ = 2.2 μg/kg of mussel meat) more than 2 orders of magnitude more sensitive than that of the commonly used detection techniques, such as LC-MS/MS.

A photo/redoxactive hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene-porphyrin conjugate with a direct connection between the two chromophores was synthesised using a formylated hexaphenylbenzene precursor.

Carbon nanotubes have generated great expectations in the scientific arena, mainly due to their spectacular properties, which include a high aspect ratio, high strain resistance, and high strength, along with high conductivities. Nowadays, carbon nanotubes are produced by a variety of methods, each of them with advantages and disadvantages. Once produced, carbon nanotubes can be chemically modified, using a wide range of chemical reactions. Functionalization makes these long wires much easier to manipulate and dispersible in several solvents. In addition, the properties of carbon nanotubes can be combined with those of organic appendages. Finally, carbon nanotubes need to be carefully characterized, either as pristine or modified materials.

Carbon nanotubes attached to magnetic beads enhance the electrochemiluminescence signal creating a conductive layer around the beads and extending the ECL active layer with the combined effect of the increased efficiency of the remote ECL and the activation of an additional ECL mechanism.