Glutathione‐stabilized Cu nanocluster‐based fluorescent probe for sensitive and selective detection of Hg2+ in water

• Published in: Luminescence (Chichester, England) Vol. 32; no. 6; pp. 1092 - 1099
• Main Authors: Luo, Tingting, Zhang, Shiting, Wang, Yujue, Wang, Meina, Liao, Mei, Kou, Xingming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bognor Regis Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.09.2017
• Subjects: Aggregation; Ascorbic acid; Detection; Drinking water; Fluorescence; fluorescence sensor; Glutathione; Ionic strength; Lakes; Mercury (metal); mercury ion measurement; metal nanoclusters; Nanoclusters; Quenching; River water; Rivers; Stability; Water; Water analysis; Water sampling; Yields
• ISSN: 1522-7235; 1522-7243
• DOI: 10.1002/bio.3296

In this paper, an innovative and facile one‐pot method for synthesizing water‐soluble and stable fluorescent Cu nanoclusters (CuNCs), in which glutathione (GSH) served as protecting ligand and ascorbic acid (AA) as reducing agent was reported. The resultant CuNCs emitted blue‐green fluorescence at 440 nm, with a quantum yield (QD) of about 3.08%. In addition, the prepared CuNCs exhibited excellent properties such as good water solubility, photostability and high stability toward high ionic strength. On the basis of the selective quenching of Hg2+ on CuNCs fluorescence, which may be the result of Hg2+ ion‐induced aggregation of the CuNCs, the CuNCs was used for the selective and sensitive determination of Hg2+ in aqueous solution. The proposed analytical strategy permitted detection of Hg2+ in a linear range of 4 × 10−8 to 6 × 10−5 M, with a detection limit of 2.2 × 10−8 M. Eventually, the practicability of this sensing approach was confirmed by its successful application to assay Hg2+ in tap water, Lotus lake water and river water samples with the quantitative spike recoveries ranging from 96.9% to 105.4%.