Chinese Journal of Applied Chemistry ›› 2021, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (1): 107-115.DOI: 10.19894/j.issn.1000-0518.200187

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Synthesis of Proline-Stabilized Cu Nanoclusters for Detection of Picric Acid

CAI Zhi-Feng1, WU Liang-Liang1, QI Kai-Fei1, DENG Chen-Hua1, ZHANG Shen1*, ZHANG Cai-Feng1,2   

  1. 1Department of Chemistry,Taiyuan Normal University,Jinzhong 030619,China;
    2Humic Acid Engineering and Technology Research Center of Shanxi Province, Taiyuan Normal University,Jinzhong 030619,China
  • Received:2020-06-17 Revised:2020-09-03 Published:2021-01-01 Online:2021-02-01
  • Supported by:
    Supported by Shanxi Provincial Applied Fundamental Research Fund Project (No.201801D121257), the Science and Technology Innovation Project of Shanxi Province (No.2020L0499), the College Students' Innovation Program of Taiyuan Normal University (No.CXCY2004) and the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Project for College Students in Shanxi Province (No.2020486)

Abstract: In this work, we reported one-pot chemical reduction method for the synthesis of proline-stabilized copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs), in which proline as the capping agent and hydroxylamine hydrochloride as the reducing agent. The optical properties of Cu NCs was measured by fluorescence spectroscopy and ultraviolet(UV)-visible absorption spectroscopy. The structure of Cu NCs was characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The TEM image shows that the Cu NCs are highly dispersed and spherical in shape with a size of around 1.89 nm. The Cu NCs exhibit brown and blue fluorescence under sunlight and UV light irradiation, respectively. The Cu NCs solution shows the maximum emission peak at 458 nm under the excitation wavelength of 397 nm. Their fluorescence is selectively and sensitively quenched by picric acid. Under optimized conditions, the assay displays a linear response in the 0.5 to 15 μmol/L and 20 to 70 μmol/L picric acid (PA) concentration range, with a detection limit of 0.092 μmol/L based on an S/N ratio of 3. The possible mechanism is static quenching and the inner filter effect. In addition, the fluorescent probe has been successfully applied to the determination of PA in real water samples.

Key words: Copper nanoclusters, Proline, Fluorescence quenching, Picric acid

CLC Number: