Alliance between doping Ag and dual ligands-enhanced fluorescent gold nanoclusters for the assays of vitamin B12 and chlortetracycline hydrochloride

A stable, water-soluble, heightened quantum yields (QYs) Au nanoclusters by the alliance between doping Ag and dual ligands (thiosalicylic acid and bovine serum albumin) (TSA/BSA-Au/AgNCs) was prepared using one-step wet chemical synthesis. The effect of different types of aromatic thiols and the molar ratio of Au-Ag on the photo-luminescence performance of AuNCs was discussed in detail. The alloy NCs is shown to be viable fluorescent method for vitamin B12 (VB12) and chlortetracycline hydrochloride (CCH) assays, and become an excellent temperature sensor in the range of 10–50 °C. The fluorescence (FL) of TSA/BSA-Au/AgNCs was quenched with the addition of VB12 or CCH coming from Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) combined with inner filter effect (IFE). The method can detect VB12/CCH by fluorometry with a linear response in the range of 0.33–60.0/0.33–60.0 μmol·L−1 and a 71.0/64.0 nmol·L−1 detection limit (at 3σ/slope). Furthermore, the proposed method was extended to the assays of VB12 in mineral water or tablets and CCH in veterinary drug or ointment with satisfactory results.