Rhodamine B chemiluminescence improved by mimetic AuCu alloy nanoclusters and ultrasensitive measurement of H2O2, glucose and xanthine

Abstract

The less stability and robustness, high-cost preparation and maintenance of natural enzymes, especially horseradish peroxidase (HRP), challenge researchers to introduce effective alternatives for their wide applications. Herein, the peroxidase-like activity of AuCu bimetal nanoclusters (AuCu NCs) was investigated in the rhodamine B-H2O2 chemiluminescence (CL) system. AuCu NCs could effectively catalyzed the CL reaction, and a high intensive emission intensity was obtained. A comprehensive study was implemented to examine the effects of different stabilizing ligands and Au/Cu ratios on the catalytic activity of obtained NCs. Comparison experiments were also expanded to include Au and Cu nanoparticles with different sizes, too. The results verified the superior catalytic activity of penicillaminestabilized AuCu bimetal NCs containing 50% cu atoms. Finally, the analytical application of the introduced CL system showed great sensitivity for H2O2 detection, with a detection limit of 0.13 nM. Moreover, the developed CL method was able to measure glucose and xanthine over wide concentration ranges of 0.1 - 400 and 0.1 - 200 μM, respectively. The method also indicated satisfactory reliability, confirmed by standard reference materials.