title: Dithiothreitol-capped fluorescent gold nanoclusters: an efficient probe for detection of copper(II) ions in aqueous solution.
abstract: We report here a Green method for the synthesis of fluorescent gold nanoclusters using dithiothreitol (DTT) as both a capping agent and reducing agent at 22 °C and pH 8. The physical and chemical properties of the synthesized AuNCs@DTT were studied by TEM and UV-vis absorption, fluorescence, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. AuNCs@DTT recognizes cupric ions with high selectivity and sensitivity, which allows this material to act as a copper(II) sensor in aqueous solution. A linear relationship was observed between the fluorescence intensity of the DTT capped gold nanoclusters and the concentration of copper(II) ions, in the range of 0-60 μM with a detection limit of 80 nM. The copper content in serum was also analyzed by using this copper sensor. It was shown that data obtained using the proposed method was comparable to values obtained by the traditional colorimetric method. This technique represents an alternative method for the determination of serum copper in clinical diagnosis especially for those laboratories which lack expensive analytical facilities.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, 130012 Changchun, PR China.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, 130012 Changchun, PR China.
authors.forename: Chunsu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, 130012 Changchun, PR China.
authors.forename: Kangbo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Jilin Agricultural University, 130118 Changchun, PR China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, 130012 Changchun, PR China; Biocenter Oulu and Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Oulu, FI-90014 Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: J Kalervo
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Hiltunen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, 130012 Changchun, PR China; Biocenter Oulu and Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Oulu, FI-90014 Oulu, Finland. Electronic address: zchen@jlu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhijun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, 130012 Changchun, PR China.
authors.forename: Jiacong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods; D002413:Cations, Divalent / Q000032:analysis; D003300:Copper / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood*; D004229:Dithiothreitol / Q000737:chemistry*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D057230:Limit of Detection; D008958:Models, Molecular; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D002413:Cations, Divalent; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D014867:Water; D006046:Gold; D003300:Copper; D004229:Dithiothreitol
keywords: Copper(II) ion detection; Dithiothreitol-capped gold nanoclusters; One-step facile synthesis; Serum sample