Aggregation-induced
electrochemiluminescence (AIECL) of the dichlorobis(1,10-phenanthroline)ruthenium(II)
(Ru(phen)2Cl2)/tri-n-propylamine
(TPrA) system was systematically investigated in H2O–MeCN
media. Up to a 120-fold increase in the ECL intensity was observed
when the H2O fraction (v%) was changed from 30% to 70%,
whereas only an approximately 5.7-fold increase in the corresponding
aggregation-induced fluorescence emission was demonstrated. The gradual
formation of clusters of Ru(phen)2Cl2 nanoaggregates
along with the increase in the H2O fraction to MeCN, which
was verified by dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron
microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), was
believed to be responsible for the remarkable ECL enhancement. Significantly,
the above-mentioned AIECL behavior was found to be very sensitive
to the types and sequences of nucleic acids present in solution,
which provided an effective and novel strategy for distinguishing
RNA from DNA and for differentiating different miRNAs. The present
study could have a substantial impact in various research areas, such
as molecular sensors, bioimaging probes, organelle-specific imaging,
and tumor diagnosis.