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Updated: Feb 14, 2026

Synthesis of Near-Infrared Emitting Gold Nanoclusters for Biological Applications
Published on: March 22, 2020
Methionine-Capped Gold Nanoclusters as a Fluorescence-Enhanced Probe for Cadmium(II) Sensing
Yan Peng1,2, Maomao Wang3, Xiaoxia Wu4
1Laboratory of Environmental Sciences and Technology, Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics & Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China. yanpeng9236@sina.com.
Abstract:
Gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) have been considered as novel heavy metal ions sensors due to their ultrafine size, photo-stability and excellent fluorescent properties. In this study, a green and facile method was developed for the preparation of fluorescent water-soluble gold nanoclusters with methionine as a stabilizer. The nanoclusters emit orange fluorescence with excitation/emission peaks at 420/565 nm and a quantum yield of about 1.46%. The fluorescence of the Au NCs is selectively and sensitively enhanced by addition of Cd(II) ions attributed to the Cd(II) ion-induced aggregation of nanoclusters. This finding was further used to design a fluorometric method for the determination of Cd(II) ions, which had a linear response in the concentration range from 50 nM to 35 μM and a detection limit of 12.25 nM. The practicality of the nanoprobe was validated in various environmental water samples and milk powder samples, with a fairly satisfactory recovery percent.
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