A fluorescence detection of d-penicillamine based on Cu2+- induced fluorescence quenching system of protein-stabilized gold nanoclusters

Abstract

In this contribution, a luminescent gold nanoclusters which were synthesized by bovine serum albumin as novel fluorescent probes were successfully utilized for the determination of d-penicillamine for the first time. Cupric ion was employed to quench the strong fluorescence of the gold nanoclusters, whereas the addition of d-penicillamine caused obvious restoration of fluorescence intensity of the Cu2+-gold nanoclusters system. Under optimum conditions, the increment in fluorescence intensity of Cu 2+-gold nanoclusters system caused by d-penicillamine was linearly proportional to the concentration of d-penicillamine in the range of 2.0 × 10-5-2.39 × 10-4 M. The detection limit for d-penicillamine was 5.4 × 10-6 M. With the off-on fluorescence signal at 650 nm approaching the near-infrared region, the present sensor for d-penicillamine detection had high sensitivity and low spectral interference. Furthermore, the novel gold nanoclusters-based fluorescent sensor has been applied to the determination of d-penicillamine in real biological samples with satisfactory results. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.