Fluorometric determination of ornidazole by using BSA coated copper nanoclusters as a novel turn off sensor

A fluorescent probe based on bovine serum albumin stabilized copper nanoclusters (BSA-CuNCs) was developed for the selective and sensitive determination of ornidazole (ORN). The nanoclusters were synthesized via a one-pot hydrothermal process in basic media. The synthesized and characterized BSA-CuNCs have less than 3 nm particle size and exhibited blue emission at 405 nm when excited at 325 nm. Synthesized and characterized nanoclusters were successfully applied as a turn-off fluorescent probe for the determination of ORN in pharmaceutical dosage forms. The quenching mechanism created an was inner filter effect (IFE). The method was linear in the concentration range of 0.52-13.56 μg mL^-1 with a low limit of detection (LOD) 0.01 μg mL^-1. High recovery values (98.5%-102.42%) with low RSD% values (0.25%-2.73%) were obtained. The synthesized nanoclusters can be used as a turn-off probe for ORN determination with their selective, simple, rapid, and inexpensive properties.