title: Blue-emitting copper nanoclusters synthesized in the presence of lysozyme as candidates for cell labeling.
abstract: Highly fluorescent copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs) have been synthesized using single-step reduction of copper sulfate by hydrazine in the presence of lysozyme. The fluorescence quantum yield was measured to be as high as 18%. The emission was also found to be dependent on the excitation wavelength. Mass spectrometric analyses indicated the presence of species corresponding to Cu2 to Cu9. Transmission electron microscopic analyses indicated the formation of agglomerated particles of average diameter of 2.3 nm, which were constituted of smaller particles of average diameter of 0.96 nm. They were found to be stable between pH 4 and 10 and in addition having excellent chemical and photostability. The noncytotoxic NCs were used to successfully label cervical cancer HeLa cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, ‡Centre for Nanotechnology, and §Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati , Guwahati-781039, India.
authors.forename: Rama
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: Amaresh Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sahoo
authors.forename: Siddhartha Sankar
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: Anumita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: Arun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chattopadhyay
mesh_terms: D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D005453:Fluorescence; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D009113:Muramidase / Q000737:chemistry*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D003300:Copper; D009113:Muramidase