Technical Papers and Presentations

ElectroChemiLuminescence (ECL) is a phenomenon of light emission resulting from an initial electrochemical reaction [1]. Today, ECL is used for detecting biomolecules (DNA, RNA, biomarkers). Unlike other optical detection methods used in biosensors (e.g. fluorescence), ECL is a highly sensitive and selective method because it does not require an exciting light source. BiPolar Electrochemistry (BPE) is an elegant electrochemical wireless technique based on the use of a conducting object (i.e. a mono-electrode) which, immersed in a sufficiently high electric field, is polarized into two poles, one of which acts as the anode and the other as the cathode simultaneously [2]. The usual pre-dimensioning techniques for the BPE show that its implementation in microsystems was not feasible due to the high values of the required applied voltage [2]-[3]. However, we could perform ECL in a 2D micropore (20 x 10 µm) for applied voltages of a few volts [3]. A gold deposit (6 x 3 µm) at the bottom of the same 2D micropore was also the site of ECL reactions (results in publication). The dimensioning of the microdevice was carried out by numerical simulation (Comsol Multiphysics™, complex electrokinetic equation). Here we present our numerical results and show the interest of using numerical simulation for designing Wireless Electrochemiluminescence Imaging microdevices.