Copper nanocluster-based fluorescent probe for sensitive and selective detection of Hg2+ in water and food stuff

In this study, Hg2+ ions were found to quench the fluorescence of glutathione (GSH)-capped copper clusters (Cu NCs). The Cu NCs were prepared by a simple reduction of CuSO4 in the presence of GSH serving both as a reducing and protecting agents, and characterized by ultraviolet–visible absorption spectroscopy (UV–vis), high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRTEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS). The GSH-Cu NCs displayed a small size, excellent water-dispersibility, good storage stability, good photostability and were stable in the presence of high concentrations of salt. The GSH-Cu NCs possessed strong blue fluorescence with a quantum yield of 10.6% and exhibited an excitation-independent fluorescence behavior. The zeta potential, TEM, resonance light scattering and dynamic light scattering measurements demonstrated that the Hg2+ ion-induced aggregation of the Cu NCs contributed to the fluorescence quenching of the dispersed Cu NCs. On these findings, a sensitive and selective fluorescent probe was developed for detecting Hg2+ in the linear range from 10 nM to 10 μM with a detection limit of 3.3 nM (S/N=3). The proposed method has been successfully applied to determine Hg2+ content in water sample and food stuff. The results of the proposed method were in good agreement with those obtained by a hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS).