Enhanced chemiluminescence of the luminol-hydrogen peroxide system by colloidal cupric oxide nanoparticles as peroxidase mimic.

As a peroxidase mimic, cupric oxide nanoparticles were found to enhance the chemiluminescence (CL) of luminol-H(2)O(2) system up to 400 folds. The CL spectra and radical scavengers were conducted to investigate the possible CL enhancement mechanism. It was suggested that the enhanced CL could be attributed to the peroxidase-like activity of CuO nanoparticles, which effectively catalyzed the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into hydroxyl radicals. The effects of the reactant concentrations and some organic compounds were also investigated. The proposed method could be used as a sensitive detection tool for hydrogen peroxide and glucose.