Functionalized cadmium sulfide quantum dots as fluorescence probe for silver ion determination

CdS quantum dots (QDs) modified with l-cysteine has been prepared by one step. They are water-soluble and biocompatible. To improve CdS QDs stability and interaction between silver ion and functionalized CdS QDs in aqueous solution, some amounts of fresh l-cysteine were added to functionalized CdS solution. Based on the characteristic fluorescence enhancement of CdS QDs at 545 nm by silver ions in the presence of some amounts of fresh l-cysteine, simultaneously, a gradual red shift of fluorescence emission bands of CdS QDs from 545 to 558 nm was observed. A simple, rapid, sensitive and specific detection method for silver ion was proposed. Under optimum conditions, the fluorescence intensity of CdS QDs is linearly proportional to silver concentration from 2.0 × 10⁻⁸ to 1.0 × 10⁻⁶ mol/L with a detection limit of 5.0 × 10⁻⁹ mol/L. In comparison with single organic fluorophores, functionalized CdS quantum dots are brighter, more stable against photobleaching, and don’t suffer from blinking. Furthermore, owing to the fluorescence enhancement effect of CdS QDs by silver ion, the proposed method showed lower detection blank and higher sensitivity. Possible fluorescence enhancement mechanism was also studied.     

Luminescent silver nanoclusters for efficient detection of adenosine triphosphate in a wide range of pH values

In this work, polymethacrylic acid (PMAA)-templated silver nanoclusters (Ag NCs) were developed as the fluorescent probe for the efficient and sensitive detection of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in a wide range of pH values. The fluorescence intensity of the Ag NCs could keep stable with pH values ranging from 2.5 to 9.3. The detection of ATP was based on the quenching of the fluorescent Ag NCs in the presence of ATP. The fluorescence quenching of the Ag NCs with increasing ATP concentration was studied at pH 2.5, 4.5, 7.0 and 8.5 which involved a wide pH environment in body fluids. The limit of detection (LOD) for ATP was as low as 0.1 mmol/L in an acidic environment with pH of 2.5 and all the linear correlation coefficients were satisfactory under wide-span pH values from 2.5 to 8.5. In addition, the sensitive determination of ATP was also achieved by adding copper ions (Cu²⁺). The high selectivity and rapid detection process proved that the fluorescent probe had great potential to detect ATP in biological samples under different pH conditions.     

Hexazamacrocycle assisted sensing of silver ion through facile synthesis of silver nanoparticles

The ease of generation of silver nanoparticles by using hexazamacrocycle ligand, L1 is utilized for the visual detection of the presence of silver ions at lower concentrations.     

Luminescent silver nanoclusters for efficient detection of adenosine triphosphate in a wide range of pH values

In this work, polymethacrylic acid (PMAA)-templated silver nanoclusters (Ag NCs) were developed as the fluorescent probe for the efficient and sensitive detection of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in a wide range of pH values. The fluorescence intensity of the Ag NCs could keep stable with pH values ranging from 2.5 to 9.3. The detection of ATP was based on the quenching of the fluorescent Ag NCs in the presence of ATP. The fluorescence quenching of the Ag NCs with increasing ATP concentration was studied at pH 2.5, 4.5, 7.0 and 8.5 which involved a wide pH environment in body fluids. The limit of detection (LOD) for ATP was as low as 0.1 mmol/L in an acidic environment with pH of 2.5 and all the linear correlation coefficients were satisfactory under wide-span pH values from 2.5 to 8.5. In addition, the sensitive determination of ATP was also achieved by adding copper ions (Cu²⁺). The high selectivity and rapid detection process proved that the fluorescent probe had great potential to detect ATP in biological samples under different pH conditions.     

Recent progress in small molecule fluorescent probes for nitroreductase

This review aims to provide a summary of the progress in fluorescent probes for nitroreductase (NTR) in recent years and displays the main fluorescent mechanisms that have been applied to design probes.     

A comparative study of the antibacterial mechanisms of silver ion and silver nanoparticles by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

In this study, we performed the first comparative study of the antibacterial mechanisms of silver ion (Ag⁺) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on Escherichia coli (E. coli) using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Through a thorough analysis of the FTIR spectra of E. coli after silver treatment in the spectral regions corresponding to thiol group, protein, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and DNA, we were able to reveal a multifaceted antibacterial mechanism of silver at the molecular level for both Ag⁺ and AgNPs. Features of such mechanism include: (1) silver complexes with thiol group; (2) silver induces protein misfolding; (3) silver causes loss of LPS from bacterial membrane; (4) silver changes the overall conformation of DNA. Despite the similarities between Ag⁺ and AgNPs with respect to their antibacterial mechanisms, we further revealed that Ag⁺ and AgNPs display quite different kinetics for silver-thiol complexation and loss of LPS, with Ag⁺ displaying fast kinetics and AgNPs displaying slow kinetics. At last, we proposed a hypothesis to interpret the observed different behaviors between Ag⁺ and AgNPs when interacting with E. coli.     

Oligonucleotide stabilized silver nanoclusters as fluorescence probe for drug-DNA interaction investigation

In this work, oligonucleotide stabilized silver nanoclusters as novel fluorescent probes were successfully utilized for the drug–DNA interaction study. Silver nanoclusters were proved to be sensitive probes for the drugs investigated (including of two kinds of intercalators, daunorubicin and quinacrine, as well as a non-intercalating binder bisBenzimide H 33258), as the detection limits at 10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹ level of studied drugs can be achieved. The interactions of drugs and calf thymus DNA were investigated using non-linear fit analysis, and the binding constants as well as binding site sizes were obtained. As biocompatible materials, silver nanoclusters are promising in the chemical especially biochemical analysis fields.     

Ag nanoclusters as probes for turn-on fluorescence recognition of TpG dinucleotide with a high selectivity

CpG dinucleotide in DNA has a great tendency to mutate to TpG dinucleotide and this transition can cause some serious diseases. In this work, fluorescent Ag nanoclusters (Ag NCs) were employed as useful inorganic fluorophores for the potential of selectively discriminating TpG dinucleotide from CpG dinucleotide. Opposite the base Y of interest in YpG dinucleotide (Y = C or T), a bulge site was introduced so as to make the base Y to be unpaired and ready for Ag⁺ binding. Such that the unpaired Y and context base pairs can provide a specific space suitable for creating fluorescent Ag NCs. We found that in comparison with CpG dinucleotide, TpG dinucleotide is much more efficient in growing fluorescent Ag NCs. Therefore, mutation of CpG dinucleotide to TpG can be identified by a turn-on fluorescence response and a high selectivity. More interestingly, Ag NCs exhibit a better performance in the TpG recognition over the other dinucleotides (Y = A and G) than the previously used organic fluorophores. Additionally, the effectiveness of the bulge site design in discriminating these dinucleotides was evidenced by control DNAs having the abasic site structure. We expect that a practical method for TpG dinucleotide recognition with a high selectivity can be developed using the bulge site-grown fluorescent Ag NCs as novel probes.     

Water-soluble homo-oligonucleotide stabilized fluorescent silver nanoclusters as fluorescent probes for mercury ion

Water–soluble fluorescent silver nanoclusters (Ag NCs) were prepared with the assistance of commercially available polyinosinic acid (PI) or polycytidylic acid (PC). The fluorescence of the Ag NCs is effectively quenched by trace mercury(II) ions, which can be applied for their detection. The response of the Ag NCs prepared with PI to Hg(II) ion is linear in the Hg(II) concentration range from 0.05 to 1.0 μM (R²?=?0.9873), and from 0.5 to 10 μM of Hg(II) (R²?=?0.9971) for Ag NCs prepared with PC. The detection limits are 3.0 nM and 9.0 nM (at an S/N of 3), respectively. The method is simple, sensitive and fairly selective.

反应介质对溶剂热法合成CuS晶体的影响

以氯化铜、硫脲为反应物,通过溶剂热法合成了具有不同形貌的微纳米分级结构CuS晶体,研究了不同反应介质对材料的形貌、晶体结构以及反应产量等的影响。结果表明,以N,N-二甲基甲酰胺(DMF)为溶剂,可以得到微米级六角花状CuS晶体;以乙二醇或者水/DMF混合物为溶剂,得到的CuS晶体为微米球花状。CuS晶体的产量随着溶剂中水所占比例的增大,呈现先上升后下降的结果,当V_(DMF)∶V_(H_2O)=1∶1时得到CuS的最大产量,为理论产量的64.5%。当V_(DMF)∶V_(H_2O)=2∶1时得到的CuS晶体具有良好的光催化活性,能够在氙灯模拟的自然光照射2.5 h以内使罗丹明B污染物溶液的脱色率达到96.7%。     

Thermal behaviour of mechanochemically synthesized nanocrystalline CuS

Thermal behaviour of mechanochemically synthesized nanocrystalline CuS particles by high-energy milling in an industrial mill has been studied. Structure properties were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction that reveals the formation of copper sulphide CuS as well as of copper sulphate CuSO₄·5H₂O. Thermal properties of the as-prepared products were studied by the differential scanning calorimetry together with X-ray inspection for detection by pass products formed. The decomposition of the as-prepared sample has been studied too. Thermal stability of the anhydrous CuSO₄ formed by the thermal decomposition is lower than the thermal stability of non-milled samples. The final product of the thermal decomposition is metallic copper instead of Cu₂O, which is stable up to 1100 °C. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis proved that the percentage of chalcantite in the covellite mechanochemically synthesized by high-energy milling is 48-51%.     

反应介质对溶剂热法合成CuS晶体的影响

以氯化铜、硫脲为反应物,通过溶剂热法合成了具有不同形貌的微纳米分级结构CuS晶体,研究了不同反应介质对材料的形貌、晶体结构以及反应产量等的影响。结果表明,以N,N-二甲基甲酰胺（DMF）为溶剂,可以得到微米级六角花状CuS晶体,以乙二醇或者水/DMF混合物为溶剂,得到的CuS晶体为微米球花状,CuS晶体的产量随着溶剂中水所占比例的增大,呈现先上升后下降的结果,当V_DMF：V_H2O=1：1时得到CuS的最大产量,为理论产量的64.5%。当V_DMF：V_H2O=2：1时得到的CuS晶体具有良好的光催化活性,能够在氙灯模拟的自然光照射2.5 h以内使罗丹明B污染物溶液的脱色率达到96.7%。     

Polyethyleneimine-capped silver nanoclusters as a fluorescence probe for sensitive detection of hydrogen peroxide and glucose

In this work, we utilized polyethyleneimine-capped silver nanoclusters (PEI-Ag nanoclusters) to develop a new fluorometric method for the determination of hydrogen peroxide and glucose with high sensitivity. The PEI-Ag nanoclusters have an average size of 2 nm and show a blue emission at 455 nm. The photostable properties of the PEI-Ag nanoclusters were examined. The fluorescence of the PEI-Ag nanoclusters could be particularly quenched by H₂O₂. The oxidization of glucose by glucose oxidase coupled with the fluorescence quenching of PEI-Ag nanoclusters by H₂O₂ can be used to detect glucose. Under optimum conditions, the fluorescence intensity quenched linearly in the range of 500 nM–100 μM with high sensitivity. The detection limit for H₂O₂ was 400 nM. And a linear correlation was established between fluorescence intensity (F₀ − F) and concentration of glucose in the range of 1.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 1.0 × 10⁻⁵ M and 1.0 × 10⁻⁵ to 1.0 × 10⁻³ M with a detection limit of 8.0 × 10⁻⁷ M. The method was used for the detection of glucose in human serum samples with satisfactory results. Furthermore, the mechanism of sensitive fluorescence quenching response of Ag nanoclusters to glucose and H₂O₂ has been discussed.     

A DNA-Stabilized Ag1812+ Cluster with Excitation-Intensity-Dependent Dual Emission

DNA-stabilized silver nanoclusters (DNA-AgNCs) are easily tunable emitters with intriguing photophysical properties. Here, a DNA-AgNC with dual emission in the red and near-infrared (NIR) regions is presented. Mass spectrometry data showed that two DNA strands stabilize 18 silver atoms with a nanocluster charge of 12+. Besides determining the composition and charge of DNA₂[Ag₁₈]¹²⁺, steady-state and time-resolved methods were applied to characterize the picosecond red fluorescence and the relatively intense microsecond-lived NIR luminescence. During this process, the luminescence-to-fluorescence ratio was found to be excitation-intensity-dependent. This peculiar feature is very rare for molecular emitters and allows the use of DNA₂[Ag₁₈]¹²⁺ as a nanoscale excitation intensity probe. For this purpose, calibration curves were constructed using three different approaches based either on steady-state or time-resolved emission measurements. The results showed that processes like thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) or photon upconversion through triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) could be excluded for DNA₂[Ag₁₈]¹²⁺. We, therefore, speculate that the ratiometric excitation intensity response could be the result of optically activated delayed fluorescence.     

Dielectrophoretic manipulation of fluorescing single-walled carbon nanotubes

We investigate the behavior of fluorescing single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) under dielectrophoretic conditions and demonstrate their collection with fluorescence microscopy. SWCNTs are dispersed in water with the aid of a nonionic surfactant, Triton X-100, and labeled through noncovalent binding with the dye 3,3'-dihexyloxacarbocyanine iodide (diOC(6)). The chromophore's affinity to the SWCNTs is due to pi-stacking interactions. Carbon nanotube (CNT) localization is clearly identified on the fluorescence images, showing that the nanotubes concentrate between the electrodes and align along the electric field lines.     

Spectrofluorimetric determination of fexofenadine hydrochloride in pharmaceutical preparation using silver nanoparticles

A novel sensitive fluorimetric method was investigated for the assay of fexofenadine hydrochloride (FEX) using silver nanoparticles (NPs) as a fluorescence probe. The NPs, which were prepared by chemical reduction of silver nitrate with sodium borohydride (reducing agent) in aqueous solution (without organic stabilizers) were water soluble, stable and had narrow emission band. The addition of drug to NPs solution caused considerable quenching of the emission band of silver NPs, which was likely due to the complexation of the drug to silver NPs. Under the optimum conditions, the quenched fluorescence (FL) intensity was linear with the concentration of FEX in the range of 1 × 10^?7 to 2.5 × 10^?5 mol L^?1 (0.9985) with a detection limit of 1.2 × 10^?8 mol L^?1. The quenching mechanism of the studied drug on the emission band of silver NPs was explained by Stern–Volmer law. The developed method was applied to FEX determination in a pharmaceutical formulation (allegra tablets) and biological fluids (human serum and urine).     

具有孪晶结构的红细胞状硫化铜的制备及其光芬顿催化性能

采用简单的溶剂热法制备出具有孪晶结构的红细胞状硫化铜材料。研究不同前驱体比例和反应时间对硫化铜产物微观形貌的影响，并对孪晶结构红细胞状硫化铜可能的形成机理进行分析。在可见光照射下孪晶结构红细胞状硫化铜与H₂O₂组成的类芬顿系统表现出优异的降解性能，光照50 min后，亚甲蓝降解率可达95%。对比孪晶结构红细胞状硫化铜与合成的花球状硫化铜的催化性能，结果表明含有孪晶结构的红细胞状硫化铜对亚甲蓝的降解性能更好，说明孪晶的存在有利于加速光生电子-空穴的分离。     

X-ray fluorescence as a method of monitoring metal catalyst content during the purification of carbon nanotubes

There have been several studies that suggest that catalyst metals in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) may pose a health threat. As there are many potential applications of CNTs in medicine, it is important to be able to quantitatively determine the amount of metal catalyst contained in a CNT sample. The relative catalyst content of carbon nanotube samples synthesized via arc-discharge has been determined at various stages of the purification process using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis. Purification was achieved by immersing samples in heated nitric acid. The intensities of the nickel K_α X-rays were studied to determine the relative catalyst content in the samples. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of purified nanotubes have been compared to the images of a sample that has been irradiated by 0-15 keV bremsstrahlung in order to determine if the XRF analysis of the nanotubes is in any way destructive. No obvious structural defects were observed as the result of irradiation.     

具有孪晶结构的红细胞状硫化铜的制备及其光-芬顿催化性能

采用简单的溶剂热法制备出具有孪晶结构的红细胞状硫化铜材料。研究不同前驱体比例和反应时间对硫化铜产物微观形貌的影响,并对孪晶结构红细胞状硫化铜可能的形成机理进行分析。在可见光照射下孪晶结构红细胞状硫化铜与H₂O₂组成的类芬顿系统表现出优异的降解性能,光照50 min后,亚甲蓝降解率可达95%。对比孪晶结构红细胞状硫化铜与合成的花球状硫化铜的催化性能,结果表明含有孪晶结构的红细胞状硫化铜对亚甲蓝的降解性能更好,说明孪晶的存在有利于加速光生电子-空穴的分离。