Home > NANO-RESEARCH > Vol. 1 (2008) > No. 4

Article Title
Two distinct fluorescent quantum clusters of gold starting from metallic nanoparticles by pH-dependent ligand etching
Keywords
Gold cluster, glutathione, pH, ligand etching, fl uorescence
Abstract
Two fl uorescent quantum clusters of gold, namely Au25 and Au8, have been synthesized from mercaptosuccinic acid-protected gold nanoparticles of 4 5 nm core diameter by etching with excess glutathione. While etching at pH ~3 yielded Au25, that at pH 7 8 yielded Au8. This is the fi rst report of the synthesis of two quantum clusters starting from a single precursor. This simple method makes it possible to synthesize well-defined clusters in gram quantities. Since these clusters are highly fl uorescent and are highly biocompatible due to their low metallic content, they can be used for diagnostic applications.
Graphical Abstract
Publisher
Tsinghua University Press
Recommended Citation
Madathumpady Abubaker Habeeb Muhammed,Subramani Ramesh,Sudarson Sekhar Sinha,Samir Kumar Pal,Thalappil Pradeep, Two distinct fluorescent quantum clusters of gold starting from metallic nanoparticles by pH-dependent ligand etching. NanoRes.2008, 1: 333-340