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A turn-on fluorescent nanoprobe for lead(II) based on the aggregation of weakly associated gold(I)-glutathione nanoparticles

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Abstract

The authors describe a method for ethanol induced formation of a fluorescent nanoprobe for sensitive fluorometric “turn-on” detection of Pb2+ based on aggregation-induced emission (AIE) of the Au(I)-glutathione (GSH) complex. On addition of Pb2+, their strong interaction with GSH causes the Au(I)-SG complexes to come in close proximity, and this results in a turn-on fluorescence with a strong emission peaking at 595 nm. The findings were utilized to design a method for quantitation of Pb2+. Interestingly, sensitivity is largely enhanced in the presence of ethanol due to the formation of dense Au(I)-SG nanoparticles. The fraction of ethanol is optimized. Response to Pb2+ occurs within a few seconds. The assay covers the 2.0 to 350 μM Pb(II) concentration range, has a 0.1 μM limit of detection, and has a satisfactory selectivity over other environmental metal ions.

Au(I)-SG complexes can form dense Au(I)-SG nanoparticles induced by ethanol. The solvent-stimulated Au(I)-SG nanoparticles show high sensitivity towards Pb2+ because they facilitate aurophilic interactions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully appreciate the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81671756 and 81271634), and Science and Technology Foundation of Hunan Province.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. **angya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, People’s Republic of China

    Hailiang Zhang, Shuailiang Wang, Zhu Chen, Peng Ge, Ranran Jia & Wenbin Zeng

  2. Molecular Imaging Research Center, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, People’s Republic of China

    Hailiang Zhang, Shuailiang Wang, Zhu Chen, Enhua **ao & Wenbin Zeng

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  1. Hailiang Zhang
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  2. Shuailiang Wang
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  3. Zhu Chen
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  7. Wenbin Zeng
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Correspondence to Wenbin Zeng.

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Zhang, H., Wang, S., Chen, Z. et al. A turn-on fluorescent nanoprobe for lead(II) based on the aggregation of weakly associated gold(I)-glutathione nanoparticles. Microchim Acta 184, 4209–4215 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-017-2406-x

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