title: D-penicillamine-templated copper nanoparticles via ascorbic acid reduction as a mercury ion sensor.
abstract: Mercury ion is one of the most hazardous metal pollutants that can cause deleterious effects on human health and the environment even at low concentrations. It is necessary to develop new mercury detection methods with high sensitivity, specificity and rapidity. In this study, a novel and green strategy for synthesizing D-penicillamine-capped copper nanoparticles (DPA-CuNPs) was successfully established by a chemical reduction method, in which D-penicillamine and ascorbic acid were used as stabilizing agent and reducing agent, respectively. The as-prepared DPA-CuNPs showed strong red fluorescence and had a large Stoke's shift (270nm). Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry were utilized to elucidate the possible fluorescence mechanism, which could be aggregation-induced emission effect. Based on the phenomenon that trace mercury ion can disperse the aggregated DPA-CuNPs, resulting in great fluorescence quench of the system, a sensitive and selective assay for mercury ion in aqueous solution with the DPA-CuNPs was developed. Under optimum conditions, this assay can be applied to the quantification of Hg(2+) in the 1.0-30μM concentration range and the detection limit (3σ/slope) is 32nM. The method was successfully applied to determine Hg(2+) in real water samples.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China.
authors.forename: Shu Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China.
authors.forename: Shuo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China. Electronic address: linb@swu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Nian Bing
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China. Electronic address: luohq@swu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hong Qun
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010396:Penicillamine / Q000737:chemistry*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D014867:Water; D003300:Copper; D008628:Mercury; D010396:Penicillamine; D001205:Ascorbic Acid
keywords: Chemical sensors; Copper nanoparticles; D-penicillamine; Fluorescence; Mercury ion