Imaging the electrochemistry of single nanoparticles with optical microscopy

Optical microscopes have emerged as powerful tools towards electrochemical analysis of single nanoparticles, owing to their sufficient spatial and temporal resolution, high throughput, excellent sensitivity and non-contact nature. This review summarized recent progress on studying the nanochemistry at single-particle level by using four types of advanced optical techniques, such as fluorescence microscopy, surface plasmon resonance microscopy, dark-field microscopy, and electrogenerated chemiluminescence. Finally, we provided our opinions on the remaining challenges and prospects for future work in this field.