Electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer system between ruthenium-based nanosheets and CdS quantum dots for detection of chlorogenic acid

A new strategy is proposed for ultrasensitive detection of chlorogenic acid (CGA) by fabricating an electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (ECL-RET) sensing platform. The novel system designed by introducing ruthenium-based 2D metal–organic framework nanosheets (Ru@Zn-MOF) as ECL acceptor and L-cysteine capped CdS quantum dots (L-CdS QDs) as ECL donor, exhibited good ECL response. The possible mechanism of the modified electrode surface reaction was discussed. Modifying of the electrode surface by application of L-CdS QDs directly on ultrathin MOF nanosheets greatly shortened the electron-transfer distance and reduce energy loss, therefore significantly improving the ECL efficiency. The prepared sensor demonstrated good stability and highly selective detection of the target molecule. Under optimal conditions, the constructed sensor for the detection of CGA exhibited a wide linear range from 1.0 × 10 −10 to 1.0 × 10 −4  mol·L −1 and a low detection limit of 3.2 × 10 −11  mol·L −1 with a correction coefficient of 0.995. The recovery for spiked samples was calculated to be 94.4–109% and the RSD was 1.07–1.72% in real samples. The obtained sensor is considered to be a promising platform for CGA detection. Graphical abstract Electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (ECL-RET) sensing platform is used for the detection for chlorogenic acid.