We report herein the energy transfer (ET) between semiconducting polymer dots (Pdots) and gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) in a photoelectrochemical (PEC) system and its feasibility for cathodic bioanalysis application. Specifically, COOH-capped Pdots were first fabricated and then assembled onto the indium–tin oxide (ITO) surface, followed by the modification of single-strand (ss) DNA probe (pDNA). After the DNA hybridization with the Au NP-tethered complementary ssDNA (Au NP-tDNA), the Au NPs were brought into the close proximity of Pdots. Upon light stimulation, photoluminescence (PL) was annihilated, fluorescence was attenuated, and the photocurrent intensity was evidently decreased. This ET-based PEC DNA sensor exhibited a linear range from 1 fM to 10 pM with a detection limit of 0.97 fM at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. The present work first exploited the ET between Pdots and Au NPs, and we believe this phenomenon will spark new interest in the study of various Pdots-based ET-influenced PEC systems and thus catalyze increasing studies for specific bioanalytical purposes.

中文翻译：

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光电电化学体系中半导体聚合物点和金纳米颗粒之间的能量转移：阴极生物分析的案例应用

我们在本文中报道了在光电化学（PEC）系统中半导体聚合物点（Pdot）和金纳米颗粒（Au NPs）之间的能量转移（ET）及其在阴极生物分析应用中的可行性。具体而言，首先制造COOH封端的Pdot，然后将其组装到铟锡氧化物（ITO）表面，然后修饰单链（ss）DNA探针（pDNA）。在与Au NP连接的互补ssDNA（Au NP-tDNA）进行DNA杂交后，Au NPs与Pdots非常接近。光刺激后，光致发光（PL）消失，荧光减弱，光电流强度明显降低。这款基于ET的PEC DNA传感器的信噪比为3时，线性范围为1 fM至10 pM，检测极限为0.97 fM。