Abstract
Targeting to obtain better water solubility and stability and less aggregation-caused quenching effects of quantum dots, two kinds of thiol molecules, glutathione and L-cysteine, were firstly united to offer stabilizing ligands for aqueous synthesized CdS quantum dots, which exhibited sensitive aggregation-induced emission properties. Fluorescent intensity of the CdS quantum dots was enhanced about 5 folds by simple solvent exchange from water to 90 vol% PEG200. Restriction of intramolecular motions in an aggregate state was probably the main cause of the phenomenon. At the same time, fluorescent intensity of CdS quantum dots in the presence of zinc ions was able to be enhanced about 2.2 folds. Based on the researches, a handy metal enhanced fluorescent probe for detecting zinc ions was established. And the detection limit was 0.58 μmol/L. Zinc ions as a bridge among CdS quantum dots to form aggregates limited motions of CdS quantum dots to a certain extent and simultaneously enhanced their fluorescence emission intensities. Meanwhile, activation of surface states of CdS quantum dots also led to emission enhancement. Both of the two factors together contributed to the fluorescence enhancement and ultimately to the sensitivity to zinc ion sample detection.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Luo JD, Xie ZL, Lam JWY, Cheng L, Chen HY, Qiu CF, Kwok HS, Zhan XW, Liu YQ, Zhu DB, Tang BZ (2001) Aggregation-induced emission of 1-methyl-12345-pentaphenylsilole. Chem Commun 18:1740–1741. https://doi.org/10.1039/b105159h
Tang CW, VanSlyke SA (1987) Organic Electroluminescent Diodes. Appl Phys Lett 51:913–915. https://doi.org/10.1039/an9830801067
Tang BZ, Zhan XW, Yu G, Lee PPS, Liu YQ, Zhu DB (2001) Efficient blue emission from siloles. J Mater Chem 11:2974–2978. https://doi.org/10.1039/b102221k
Chen JW, Xu B, Ouyang XY, Tang BZ, Cao Y (2004) Aggregation-induced emission of cis,cis-1234-tetraphenylbutadiene from restricted intramolecular rotation. J Phys Chem 108:7522–7526. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp048475q
Gu YA, Zhao Z, Su HF, Zhang PF, Liu JK, Niu GL, Li SW, Wang ZY, Kwok RTK, Ni XL, Sun JZ, Qin AJ, Lam JWY, Tang BZ (2018) Exploration of biocompatible AIEgens from natural resources. Chem Sci 9:6497–6502. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8sc01635f
Ding D, Li K, Liu B, Tang BZ (2013) Bioprobes based on AIE Fluorogens. Acc Chem Res 46:2441–2453. https://doi.org/10.1021/ar3003464
Hong YN, Lam JWY, Tang BZ (2009) Aggregation-induced emission: phenomenon mechanism and applications. Chem Commun:294332–294353. https://doi.org/10.1039/b904665h
Chen JW, Law CCW, Lam JWY, Dong YP, Lo SMF, Williams ID, Zhu DB, Tang BZ (2003) Synthesis light emission nanoaggregation and restricted intramolecular rotation of 11-substituted 2345-tetraphenylsiloles. Chem Mater 15:1535–1546. https://doi.org/10.1021/cm021715z
Li HK, Mei J, Wang JA, Zhang SA, Zhao QL, Wei QA, Qin AJ, Sun JZ, Tang BZ (2011) Facile synthesis of poly(aroxycarbonyltriazole)s with aggregation-induced emission characteristics by metal-free click polymerization. Sci China-Chem 54:611–616. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-011-4235-9
Birks JB (1970) Photophysics of aromatic molecules. Science 174:580. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.174.4009.580
Mei J, Hong YN, Lam JWY, Qin AJ, Tang YH, Tang BZ (2014) Aggregation-induced emission: the whole is more brilliant than the parts. Adv Mater 26:5429–5479. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201401356
Bu F, Duan RH, Xie YJ, Yi YP, Peng Q, Hu RR, Qin AJ, Zhao ZJ, Tang BZ (2015) Unusual aggregation-induced emission of a Coumarin derivative as a result of the restriction of an Intramolecular twisting motion. Angew Chem Int Edit 54:14492–14497. https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.201506782
Mou MY, Wu Y, Niu QQ, Wang YQ, Yan ZY, Liao SH (2017) Aggregation-induced emission properties of hydrothermally synthesized cu–in–S quantum dots. Chem Commun 53:3357–3360. . https://doi.org/10.1039/C7CC00170C
Mou MY, Wu Y, Zou H, Dong JY, Wu SM, Yan ZY, Liao SH (2019) The self-assembly of cu-in-S quantum dots with aggregation-induced emission into 3D network triggered by cation and its application as a novel metal-enhanced fluorescent nanosensor for detecting Zn (II). Sensor Actuat B-Chem 284:265–270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2018.12.055
Ding CP, Cao XY, Zhang CL, He TR, Hua N, Xian YZ (2017) Rare earth ions enhanced near infrared fluorescence of Ag2S quantum dots for the detection of fluoride ions in living cells. Nanoscale. 9:14031–14038. https://doi.org/10.1039/C7NR04436D
Qu F, Yang QQ, Wang BJ, You JM (2019) Aggregation-induced emission of copper nanoclusters triggered by synergistic effect of dual metal ions and the application in the detection of H2O2 and related biomolecules. Talanta. 207:120289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2019.120289
Williams ATR, Winfield SA, Miller JN (1983) Relative fluorescence quantum yields using a computer-controlled luminescence spectrometer. Analyst. 108:1067–1071. https://doi.org/10.1039/an9830801067
Huang PC, Jiang Q, Yu P, Yang LF, Mao LQ (2013) Alkaline post-treatment of cd(II)-glutathione coordination polymers: toward green synthesis of water-soluble and Cytocompatible CdS quantum dots with tunable optical properties. ACS Appl Mater Inter 5:5239–5246. https://doi.org/10.1021/am401082n
Fuhr BJ, Rabenstein DL (1973) Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of the solution chemistry of metal complexes IX the binding of cadmium zinc lead and mercury by glutathione. J Am Chem Soc 95:6944–6950. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja00802a013
Shindo H, Brown TL (1965) Infrared Spectra of Complexes of L-Cysteine and Related Compounds with Zinc (II) Cadmium(II) Mercury(II) and Lead (II). J Am Chem Soc 87:1904–1909. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja01087a013
Sovago I, Varnagy K (2013) Cadmium(II) Complexes of Amino Acids and Peptides. Metal ions in life sciences 11:275–302. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5179-8_9
Haque MA, Mahalakshmi S (2015) Triethanolamine-assisted synthesis of cadmium sulfide nanoclusters. Res Chem Intermedia 41:5205–5215. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11164-014-1622-9
Wang H, Zhao EG, Lam JWY, Tang BZ (2015) AIE luminogens: emission brightened by aggregation. Mater Today 18:365–377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2015.03.004
Avelino HMNT, Fareleira JMNA, Gourgouillon D, Igreja JM, da Ponte MN (2017) Viscosity of poly(ethyleneglycol) 200 [PEG 200] saturated with supercritical carbon dioxide. J Supercrit Fluid 128:300–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.supflu.2017.02.024
Secur JB, Oberstak HE (1951) Viscosity of glycerol and its aqueous solutions. J Ind Eng Chem 43:2117–2120. https://doi.org/10.1021/ie50501a040
Gong YY, Tan YQ, Li H, Zhang YR, Yuan WZ, Zhang YM, Sun JZ, Tang BZ (2013) Crystallization-induced phosphorescence of benzil s at room temperature. Sci China Chem 56:1183–1186. https://doi.org/10.1021/ie50501a040
Gong YY, Tan YQ, Li H, Zhang YR, Yuan WZ, Zhang YM, Sun JZ, Tang BZ (2013) Room temperature phosphorescence from natural products: crystallization matters. Sci China Chem 56:1178–1182. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-013-4923-8
Wang L, Liang AN, Chen HQ, Liu Y, Qian BB, Fu J (2008) Ultrasensitive determination of silver ion based on synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy with nanoparticles. Anal Chim Acta 616:170–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2008.04.027
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China Youth Fund (No. 6200050016), National College Students’ Innovation Entrepreneurial Training Program (No. 3151910465) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No.2632018PY04).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yao, C., Lin, T., Lian, Z. et al. Aggregation-Induced Emission Properties of Glutathione and L-Cysteine Capped CdS Quantum Dots and their Application as Zn(II) Probe. J Fluoresc 30, 1601–1609 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-020-02596-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-020-02596-x