Differentiating Molecular Weights of Supramolecular Polymers in Lower Monomer Concentrations by Coreaction Accelerator-Regulated Electrochemiluminescence

Nuclear magnetic resonance is the most conventional approach to characterizing the molecular weight (M_w) of supramolecular polymers (SPs) at high monomer concentrations. However, it remains a great challenge to determine SPs with lower M_w values because the increased monomer concentrations will assemble dynamically to larger SPs. In this contribution, we developed an SP-regulated electrochemiluminescence (ECL) strategy for differentiating the M_w of SPs in low monomer concentrations. It was found that the SPs with lower M_w could serve as a coreaction accelerator to provide larger electrochemically active surface areas and promote the oxidation process of coreactant tripropylamine (TPrA), resulting in improved ECL intensity. Therefore, a novel ECL platform has been successfully established to differentiate the M_w of SPs at lower monomer concentrations. Our finding not only offers a deep understanding of the SP-regulated ECL performances but also provides the possibility for differentiating the M_w of SPs via coreaction accelerator-mediated ECL, particularly in low monomer concentrations.