Abstract
A facile strategy for designing a glutathione-capped Mn-doped CdS/ZnS/CdS core/shell/shell QD-based fluorescent nanosensor has been developed for rapid, selective, and ultrasensitive detection of Cu2+. In this nanosensor, glutathione provided the binding and recognition sites for Cu2+, accumulating Cu2+ on the QD surface. The energy transfer pathway from the host to the Mn dopant was sensitive to the interferences from non-radiative recombination pathways caused by Cu2+, resulting in photoluminescence quenching. The nanosensor responded to Cu2+ within one minute and exhibited good selectivity to Cu2+ over other metal ions and good linear correlation over the concentration range of 1 nM to 100 nM, with a detection limit as low as 0.74 nM. Moreover, this nanosensor avoids the self-quenching problem and autofluorescence in biosystems due to the substantial Stokes shift and long lifetime, and thus can be used to monitor Cu2+ in living cells.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 63458-63464 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | RSC Advances |
Volume | 5 |
Issue number | 78 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2015 |