Metal-enhanced chemiluminescence from chromium, copper, nickel, and zinc nanodeposits: Evidence for a second enhancement mechanism in metal-enhanced fluorescence

Over the past decade metal-fluorophore interactions, metal-enhanced fluorescence, have attracted significant research attention, with the technology now becoming common place in life science applications. In this paper, we address the underlying mechanisms of metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) and experimentally show using chemiluminescence solutions that MEF is indeed underpinned by two complimentary mechanisms, consistent with the recent reports by Geddes and co-workers [Zhang et al., J. Phys. Chem. C 113, 12095 (2009)] and their enhanced fluorescence hypothesis. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3492849]