16 - Environmental applications of luminescent metal nanoclusters

Abstract

Metal nanoclusters (NCs) have been created as new attractive fluorophores. Their good properties make them great candidates for suitable fluorescent tests for different applications. NCs, with measurements between metal atoms and nanoparticles, have attracted increasingly more consideration because of their remarkable physical and chemical properties. Excellent properties such as ultra-small size, low toxicity, strong fluorescence, great stability, and high reactivity greatly improve the sensitivity and selectivity of NC-based sensors. This chapter will focus on the various uses of NCs in environmental monitoring. We will summarize various strategies of NCs such as Au, Ag, Cu, Pd, and Pt NCs, as well as alloy NCs, consisting of at least two molecules of metals for sensing applications. The metal core and the ligand shell of NCs can serve as the recognition component for analysts, permitting NCs to have broad application prospects in environmental monitoring. Here, we highlight recent researches in environmental applications, including the detection of pH, heavy metal ions (such as Hg2+, Pb2+, Ag+, and Cr6+), inorganic anions (such as CN−, S2−, and I−), and nitroaromatic explosives. In the final section, we give a brief conclusion and discuss future challenges for diagnostic applications of NCs.