Synthesis of highly fluorescent lysine-stabilized Au nanoclusters for sensitive and selective detection of Cu2+ ion

Herein, highly fluorescent lysine-stabilized Au nanoclusters (AuNCs@Lys) were successfully synthesized by a simple and environmental friendly approach, and the nanoclusters cooperated with bovine serum albumin stabilized Au nanoclusters (AuNCs@BSA) and were used for the determination of Cu2+ ions with a lower detection limit of 0.8 × 10−12 mol L−1.