A wireless electrochemiluminescence detector applied to direct and indirect detection for electrophoresis on a microfabricated glass device

A novel electrochemiluminescence (ECL) detector is presented in this article. The detector is applied for micellar electrokinetic chromatographic separation of dichlorotris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) hydrate [Ru(bpy)] and dichlorotris(1,10-phenanthroline)ruthenium-(II) hydrate [Ru(phen)] on a microfabricated glass device. It consists of a microfabricated "U"-shape floating platinum electrode placed across the separation channel. The legs of the U function respectively as working and counter electrode. The required potential difference for the ECL reaction is generated at the Pt electrode by the electric field available in the separation channel during electrophoretic separation. Initial experiments demonstrate a micellar electrokinetic separation and direct ECL detection of 10^-16 mol of Ru(phen) (10^-6 M) and 4.5 × 10^-16 mol of Ru(bpy) (5 × 10^-6 M). Also, preliminary results show the indirect detection of three amino acids. The high voltage at the location of detection does not interfere with the electrochemistry.