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

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Abstract

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.

Water-soluble fluorescent Ag nanoclusters (NCs) were facilely prepared using commercially available polyinosinic acid or polycytidylic acid. The fluorescence intensity of the as-prepared Ag NCs was effectively quenched by trace Hg2+, which was used for the detection of Hg2+ in water samples with good performance.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the NSFC (Nos. 20905021, 21175118, 21275130 and 21275131), the Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China for Returned Scholars (A.J.W. and J.J.F.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, 453007, China

    Rui-Zhi Wang, Ming Zhang, Jiu-Ju Feng & Ai-Jun Wang

  2. College of Geography and Environmental Science, College of Chemistry and Life Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, 321004, China

    Dan-Ling Zhou, Hong Huang, Jiu-Ju Feng & Ai-Jun Wang

Authors
  1. Rui-Zhi Wang
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  2. Dan-Ling Zhou
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  3. Hong Huang
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  4. Ming Zhang
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Correspondence to Jiu-Ju Feng or Ai-Jun Wang.

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Wang, RZ., Zhou, DL., Huang, H. et al. Water-soluble homo-oligonucleotide stabilized fluorescent silver nanoclusters as fluorescent probes for mercury ion. Microchim Acta 180, 1287–1293 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-013-1045-0

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