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Quantification of gold(III) in solution and with a test stripe via the quenching of the fluorescence of molybdenum disulfide quantum dots

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Abstract

The paper describes a fluorescent method for determination of Au(III) using molybdenum disulfide quantum dots (MoS2 QDs) that were prepared by a hydrothermal route using glutathione as a reductant. The photoluminescence of MoS2 QDs peaks at 416 nm if excited at 340 nm and is temporally stable even in presence of NaCl or when stored in the refrigerator for one year. Its quantum yield is 12.7 %. The blue-green fluorescence of MoS2 QDs is fairly specifically quenched by Au(III) ions and therefore presents a useful nanoprobe for this ion. Fluorescence intensity drops linearly with the concentration of Au(III) in the range from 0.5 to 1000 μM, and the lower detection limit is 64 nM. The quenching mechanism was investigated and it is concluded that the process is due to the reduction of Au(III) and the deposition of Au(0) on the surface of the MoS2 QDs. The nanoprobe was successfully applied to the determination of Au(III) in (spiked) environmental samples. A test stripe for Au(III) was obtained by soaking a piece of paper with a colloidal solution of the MoS2 QDs, and it was found that this stripe, after drying, can also be used to quantify Au(III) via fluorescence.

Molybdenum disulfide quantum dots (MoS2 QDs) have a high quantum yield and show good stability. MoS2 QDs are shown to be a sensitive fluorescent probe for the determination of Au3+ ions in solution and with a test stripe via fluorescence quenching.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 61307103), fundamental & advanced research project of Chongqing, China (cstc2013jcyjC00001), STS Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant no. KFJ-EW-STS-011), the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, Ministry of Education. National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21407145).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China

    Haiyan Cao, Huanbo Wang, Yu Huang, Yufeng Sun & Mingjie Tang

  2. College of Instrumentation and Electrical Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun, 130000, China

    Yufeng Sun

  3. Occupational Disease Prevention Hospital of Chongqing City, Chongqing, 400060, China

    Si Shi

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  1. Haiyan Cao
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Correspondence to Haiyan Cao or Yu Huang.

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Haiyan Cao and Huanbo Wang contributed equally to this work.

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Cao, H., Wang, H., Huang, Y. et al. Quantification of gold(III) in solution and with a test stripe via the quenching of the fluorescence of molybdenum disulfide quantum dots. Microchim Acta 184, 91–100 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-016-1988-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-016-1988-z

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