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Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Synthesis of Near-Infrared Emitting Gold Nanoclusters for Biological Applications
Published on: March 22, 2020
Size-dependent electrophoretic migration and separation of water-soluble gold nanoclusters by capillary
Ting Wan1, Fenglin Tang1, Yanru Yin1
1Chemical Synthesis and Pollution Control Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, China West Normal University, Nanchong, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Recently, water-soluble gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) have attracted more and more attention due to their unique properties. In this study, penicillamine-protected gold nanoclusters (Pen-AuNCs) were synthesized and initially fractionated by sequential size-selective precipitation (SSSP). The crude Pen-AuNCs and SSSP fractions were separated by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with a diode array detector. The effects of key parameters, including the concentration of phosphate buffer, pH value and the ethanol content were systematically investigated. The separation of water-soluble poly-disperse AuNCs were well achieved at 30 mM phosphate buffer with 7.5% EtOH, pH 12.0, and applied voltage of 15 kV. The linear correlation between AuNCs diameter and mobility was observed. This finding provides an important reference for CE separation and product purification of water-soluble AuNCs or other nanomaterials.
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