Electrochemiluminescence platform for curcumin detection based on g-C3N4 of N-rich vacancy and Ti2AlC

In this work, g-C₃N₄ of N-rich vacancy (CNNV) and mesoporous SiO₂ were synthesized. A novel electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor for curcumin (Cur) based on CNNV@SiO₂ and Ti₂AlC was constructed. An initial ECL signal was generated from the CNNV-S₂O₈²⁻ system. SiO₂ significantly adsorbed more S₂O₈²⁻, thereby enhancing the ECL signal. Ti₂AlC served as an effective co-reaction promoter, further amplifying the ECL signal of CNNV@SiO₂-S₂O₈²⁻ system. With the addition of Cur, the ECL signal also decreased, which can be attributed to the resonance energy transfer (RET) mechanism between CNNV (donor) and Cur (acceptor). Under optimal conditions, a strong linear relationship was observed between the change in ECL signal (ΔI) and the logarithm of Cur concentration (lgC_Cur), spanning from 5 × 10⁻¹⁵ to 5 × 10⁻⁹ mol L⁻¹ with a detection limit of 1.7 × 10⁻¹⁵ mol L⁻¹. The constructed ECL sensor was successfully applied to detect Cur in real samples.