A Close Look at Mechanism, Application, and Opportunities of Electrochemiluminescence Microscopy

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is a typical luminescence process triggered by electrochemical reactions. Due to the separated signal types, ECL measurements have some merits of high sensitivity, low background, and simple configuration. Coupled with a microscopy setup, ECL microscopy (ECLM) has the unique characteristics of ECL and is also furnished with spatiotemporal resolution. Thus, many applications have been created, including nanoscale sensing, ECL mechanism deciphering, transient events of single objects, and ECLM crossover methods. In this review, we will overview the development and basic knowledge of ECL and then profile the setup design of ECLM. Through the understanding of these two parts, we will next probe the diverse applications of ECLM, combining the inter-relation with each other. Finally, the outlook discussing the expectations of further progress of ECLM technology.