title: Highly selective fluorescent sensors for Hg(2+) based on bovine serum albumin-capped gold nanoclusters.
abstract: In this paper, we report a new homogeneous assay for rapid, highly selective and sensitive detection of Hg(2+) in aqueous solution based on the induced photoluminescence (PL) quenching of BSA-modified gold nanoclusters (BSA-Au NCs). There was a linear correlation between the expression (I(0)- I)/I(0) and the concentrations of Hg(2+) over the ranges of 0.4-43.2 microM, and the corresponding limit of detection (LOD) was 80 nM. The relative standard deviation of 5 replicate measurements was 1.4% for 1.0 x 10(-5) mol L(-1) Hg(2+). Moreover, this method has excellent selectivity over metal ions and anions. The feasibility of the BSA-Au NCs sensor for Hg(2+) in different aqueous samples was demonstrated with satisfactory results. Moreover, the possible sensing Hg(2+) mechanism was also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Biomedical informatics and Health Engineering, Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, PR China.
authors.forename: Dehong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Zonghai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Pengfei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lintao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000737:chemistry*; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; D006046:Gold; D008628:Mercury