Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence Microscopy and Imaging : Theory, Instruments, and Applications

This book introduces the reader in the fast-developing, fascinating field of Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) imaging and ECL microscopy (ECLM) with its outstanding ability to visualize micro-objects, such as bio-conjugated magnetic beads, cellular membranes, subcellular components, tissues, polypeptide interactions and nucleic acid structures, with unprecedented sensitivity and spatial and temporal resolution. The reader is provided with the most recent fundamental and instrumental aspects of ECLM, including the strategies for signal enhancement and approaches to super-resolution and mechanistic investigations aimed at highlighting hidden ECL which may eventually facilitate the enhancement of its bioanalytical performance. By including contributions from the principal authors worldwide in the field of ECLM and ECL imaging, this book offers a breadth of coverage and depth of treatment to this new exciting field. It provides a comprehensive view of ECLM as a reference text for advanced researchers. At the same time, the fundamentals of ECL are also described so as to make it fully accessible to beginners and students. In doing this, the authors put their best efforts to describe the processes in the most straightforward way while never neglecting the rigor that distinguish the physical-chemistry of the electrogenerated chemiluminescence phenomena. The final result is a multidisciplinary resource that encompasses electrochemistry, material chemistry, physics, chemistry and biology that sets the reference, from fundamentals to application, for a wide range of scientist in an effort to foster this fascinating research into new and creative pathways.

Francesco Paolucci is Professor of Chemistry at the Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna (Italy) and Associate Researcher at ICMATE-CNR. He served as Vice President of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) (2019-2021) and Chair of Molecular Electrochemistry Division of ISE (2015-2016). Editorial activities: Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry; Current Opinion in Electrochemistry; Electrochimica Acta. He co-authored > 280 publications in peer-reviewed International Journals and chapters in books (>15000 citations, H-index: 61-Scopus/WOS). His interest focuses on various themes of molecular, supramolecular and materials electrochemistry in energy-related applications and the development of new electroanalytical procedures, especially based on electrochemiluminescence. He organized or co-organized: ECL 2014 - Workshop on Electrochemiluminescence, Bertinoro (Italy) 7-10 September 2014; ECL 2016 - Workshop on Electrochemiluminescence, Bordeaux (France) 29-31 August 2016; 69th Annual Meeting of the ISE, Bologna (Italy), 1-7 September 2018.

Andrea Fiorani is a fixed-term researcher in the group of Prof. Francesco Paolucci at University of Bologna since November 2025. Dr. Fiorani graduated at University of Bologna, where he also obtained his PhD in Chemistry. He previously held a postdoctoral position in the Inorganic Materials Chemistry Laboratory of Prof. Yasuaki Einaga at Keio University from 2018 to 2025, where he has been granted a postdoctoral fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) from 2019 to 2021. He also held postdoctoral positions in the group of Prof. Francesco Paolucci at University of Bologna (32 months), and in the group of Prof. Wolfgang Schuhmann at Rurh University in Bochum (5 months). His research includes electrochemiluminescence, electrode materials, in particular boron-doped diamond, and chemical conversion by electrochemical reactions. Dr. Fiorani is coauthor of more than 50 published articles in peer-reviewed international journals and 4 book chapters (h-index 22).

Giovanni Valenti is associate professor at the Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna (Italy). He spent different research periods as visiting scientist, at Dublin City University, University of Texas at Austin, at the Centre de Recherché Paul Pascal, CNRS Bordeaux and University of Santa Barbara California. He is passionate about electrochemistry and the application of electrochemical tools for study molecules and new nanomaterials, for the generation of light (electrochemiluminescence), for the early diagnosis and for energy application. Dr. G. Valenti was awarded the “Primo Levi 2016” and "Metrohm Italia s.r.l." prize by the Italian Chemical Society (2006). He also has been supported by various project: Project PRIN (Italian ministry of University and Research MIUR), NanoImmunoERA (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-SE-01-01 GA 101086341), ECLectic PI and coordinator (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-DN GA 101119951) and ECLIPSE (Pathfinder GA 101046787). G. Valenti co-authored more than 100 published articles (h-index 36) in high-impact peer-reviewed journals.

Massimo Marcaccio is Professor of Chemistry at the Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna (Italy). He spent research periods as visiting scientist and professor in several European and North American universities and he is an active member of the Società Chimica Italiana and the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE). His scientific activity concerns the investigation of molecular, supramolecular and biological (proteins and enzymes) systems, in solution and/or immobilized onto electrode surface. He has been actively involved in the organization of 4 international scientific meetings and he was co-chairman of the annual meeting of the Electrochemical division of the Italian Chemical Society. He also acted as Guest Editor for two Special Issues (Collection of Czechoslovak Chemical Communications 2003, Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 2012). He is co-author of more than 160 papers on referred international journals and book chapters, with a H-index of 50 (Scopus).