Scanning electrochemical microscopy. 37. Light emission by electrogenerated chemiluminescence at SECM tips and their application to scanning optical microscopy

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) at a scanning electrochemical microscope (SECM) tip as the tip was moved in the vicinity of insulating and conductive substrates was studied either by ion annihilation or with a coreactant. The SECM/ECL approach curves (intensity vs tip-substrate distance, d) with both insulating and conducting substrates showed a decrease in ECL intensity with a decrease in d, Modes of operation that produced sufficiently intense and stable ECL for optical imaging are possible. The needed improvements for higher resolution and the potential application of this technique for the studies of the kinetics and mechanisms of coreactant ECL reactions are discussed.