Busi KB, Kotha J, Bandaru S, Ghantasala JP, Haseena S, Bhamidipati K, Puvvada N, Ravva MK, Thondamal M, Chakrabortty S. Engineering colloidally stable, highly fluorescent and nontoxic Cu nanoclusters
via reaction parameter optimization.
RSC Adv 2022;
12:17585-17595. [PMID:
35765449 PMCID:
PMC9194929 DOI:
10.1039/d2ra02819k]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Metal nanoclusters (NCs) composed of the least number of atoms (a few to tens) have become very attractive for their emerging properties owing to their ultrasmall size. Preparing copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs) in an aqueous medium with high emission properties, strong colloidal stability, and low toxicity has been a long-standing challenge. Although Cu NCs are earth-abundant and inexpensive, they have been comparatively less explored due to their various limitations, such as ease of surface oxidation, poor colloidal stability, and high toxicity. To overcome these constraints, we established a facile synthetic route by optimizing the reaction parameters, especially altering the effective concentration of the reducing agent, to influence their optical characteristics. The improvement of the photoluminescence intensity and superior colloidal stability was modeled from a theoretical standpoint. Moreover, the as-synthesized Cu NCs showed a significant reduction of toxicity in both in vitro and in vivo models. The possibility of using such Cu NCs as a diagnostic probe toward C. elegans was explored. Also, the extension of our approach toward improving the photoluminescence intensity of the Cu NCs on other ligand systems was demonstrated.
A facile synthetic strategy to engineer improved fluorescent quantum yield, colloidally stable, and low toxic Cu nanoclusters is introduced. These nanoclusters have the potential to be used as excellent bioimaging probes.![]()
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