An efficient method to investigate the window size of the silica shell generated via the classical Stöber method is reported by making use of the unique aggregation-induced emission property of Au(I)-thiolate complexes, which can precisely probe the porosity of the silica shell in Au(I)-thiolate@SiO2 nanoparticles.
Keywords: Au(I)-thiolate complexes; aggregation-induced emission; luminescent gold nanoclusters; luminescent probes; semipermeable properties; silica nanoparticles.
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