Abstract:
Water-soluble and stable fluorescent Cu nanoclusters (CuNCs) were prepared by using glutathione (GSH) as protecting ligand and reducing agent.The obtained CuNCs emitted red fluorescence at 590 nm, with the quantum yield of 2.3% and good photo-stability. A fluorescence sensing method was reported for the sensitive determination of Hg
2+ by using the GSH-stabilized CuNCs (GSH-CuNCs). The linear regions were obtained from 2.0×10
-8 mol/L to 2.0×10
-6 mol/L and with a limit of detection of 4.0×10
-9 mol/L. The strategy was successfully applied for the determination of the Hg
2+ levels in lake water samples. It could provide a novel method for the rapid and sensitive monitoring of Hg
2+ ions.