Flexible metallization of electrospun nanofibers: Dramatically enhanced solid-state electrochemistry and electrochemiluminescence of the immobilized tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II)

In this work, three protocols were performed to incorporate gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) into electrospun nanofibers of poly(acrylonitrile-co-acrylic acid) (PAN-co-PAA), namely, (1) direct electrospinning AuNPs/PAN-co-PAA/DMF colloid solution, (2) in situ reduction of the chelated Au ions in the electrospun gold salt/PAN-co-PAA nanofibers by NaBH4, and (3) further electroless-plating of the in situ reduced AuNPs-loaded nanofibers. The morphologies of the AuNPs-loaded nanofibers were characterized by the field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and the transmission electron microscopy (TEM). As prepared AuNPs-loaded nanofibers were used to immobilize tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) [Ru(bpy)3]2+, to form the ECL sensors. The results demonstrated that the dramatically enhanced solid-state electrochemical and ECL performance could be feasibly achieved by the incorporation of AuNPs into the nanofibers. Moreover, the enhanced effect depended on the AuNPs assembly method, which resulted in the different electroconductive and catalytic abilities.