Penicillamine-protected Ag20 nanoclusters and fluorescence chemosensing for trace detection of copper ions

Xianhu Liu; Weihua Ding; Yishi Wu; Chenghui Zeng; Zhixun Luo; Hongbing Fu

doi:10.1039/c6nr09818e

Penicillamine-protected Ag₂₀ nanoclusters and fluorescence chemosensing for trace detection of copper ions

Nanoscale. 2017 Mar 17;9(11):3986-3994. doi: 10.1039/c6nr09818e.

Authors

Xianhu Liu¹, Weihua Ding², Yishi Wu², Chenghui Zeng², Zhixun Luo², Hongbing Fu²

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China. [email protected] [email protected] and Department of Chemistry, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei, Anhui 235000, P. R. China.
² State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China. [email protected] [email protected].

PMID: 28267164
DOI: 10.1039/c6nr09818e

Abstract

We report the synthesis of penicillamine-protected Ag₂₀ nanoclusters (NCs), with properties of high monodispersity, red fluorescence and water solubility. Full characterization of the Ag₂₀ NCs is addressed, along with first-principles optimization calculations, revealing the chemical composition and structure of the as-prepared Ag NCs within a molecular formula [Ag₂₀(DPA)₁₈-H]^-. Moreover, natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis demonstrates the charge-transfer interactions between the ligand and Ag atoms, and helps in understanding the origins of fluorescence of Ag₂₀ NCs related to the ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) mechanism. Further, fluorescence chemosensing of the Ag₂₀ NCs is demonstrated for tracing copper ions with high sensitivity and selectivity in aqueous solution.