One-pot hydrothermal synthesis of orange fluorescent silver nanoclusters as a general probe for sulfides

Water-soluble fluorescent silver nanoclusters (AgNCs) with almost seven and nine silver atoms and a quantum yield (QY) of 5.38 ± 0.25% were successfully prepared via one-pot hydrothermal synthesis using polymethacrylic acid sodium salt (PMAA-Na) as a template. The as-prepared PMAA-AgNCs displayed a mono-distribution, they were uniform in size and the color of the fluorescence, emitting at 579 nm, was orange when excited at 502 nm. What is more, we found that the as-prepared PMAA-AgNCs could be quenched by sulfides based on the formation of a metal-ligand bond Ag-S, and thus sulfides could be sensitively detected by spectrofluorometry. As proof of concept, thiourea (TU) and other sulfides including cysteine (Cys), glutathione (GSH) and dl-methionine could be detected. For example, the color of the orange fluorescent AgNCs solutions darkened upon the addition of TU and the fluorescence of PMAA-AgNCs was quenched. The detection limit for TU was 6.10 μM in the linear range from 8.57 μM to 2.29 mM.