Glutathione-directed synthesis of luminescent Ag2S nanoclusters as nanosensors for copper(ii) ions and temperatureElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5ra16455a

• Main Authors: Kong, Lingcan, Liu, Wenwei, Chu, Xuefeng, Yao, Yuyang, Zhu, Pengfei, Ling, Xia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 22.09.2015
• ISSN: 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/c5ra16455a

Highly red luminescent and water-soluble Ag 2 S nanoclusters (NCs) are synthesized using glutathione as a stabilizing and capping agent. The as-prepared NCs have been characterized in terms of photoluminescence excitation spectrum, photoluminescence spectrum, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The NCs are shown to be viable fluorescent probes for the determination of Cu 2+ ions due to aggregation-induced quenching of fluorescence. Furthermore, the nanosensor exhibits high sensitivity to Cu 2+ ions with a detection limit of 2.5 nmol L −1 and has been demonstrated for determination of Cu 2+ ions in real water samples including tap water, mineral water, and Taihu lake water. In addition, the as-prepared NCs could be used as versatile nanothermometry devices in cellular and in in vivo temperature sensing based on obvious temperature dependence on the logarithm of fluorescence emission intensity, which changes obviously over the physiological temperature range (6-50 °C). Highly red luminescent Ag 2 S nanoclusters were synthesized and they show higher sensitivity as nanosensors for copper( ii ) ion and temperature.