Abstract
Water-soluble fluorescent Ag nanoclusters (NCs) were synthesized at room temperature with sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS) as a protective agent. The effects of synthetic conditions on the fluorescence properties of Ag NCs were investigated. The results show that the fluorescence intensity of Ag NCs strongly depends on the synthetic conditions, such as the molar ratio of AgNO3 versus SDS and sodium borohydride (NaBH4), the reaction time, and the pH value of the reaction solution. Under the optimum conditions, the as-prepared Ag NCs exist in face-centered-cubic phase with an average size of 2 nm. Fluorescence spectra of Ag NCs show emission peaks at 365 nm for different excitation wavelength. Resonant absorptions are observed at 203 nm and 277 nm in the absorption spectrum, which can be used to establish the electronic levels in the Ag NCs system.
Highlights
In recent years, noble metal nanoclusters have received considerable attention due to their marvelous optical, physical, and electrical properties for use in sensing, biological imaging, and single-molecular spectroscopy [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
The peaks position and relative intensity are in good agreement with the values of Ag in the standard card (JCPDS number 04-783) and reveal that Ag NCs are in face-centred-cubic structure
The corresponding transmission electron microscope (TEM) image (Figure 1(b)) indicates that the average size of Ag NCs is about 2 nm and the nanoclusters are spherical in shape
Summary
Noble metal nanoclusters have received considerable attention due to their marvelous optical, physical, and electrical properties for use in sensing, biological imaging, and single-molecular spectroscopy [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Several synthetic strategies have been proposed for the preparation of Ag NCs such as radiolytic [10, 11], photochemical [12], sonochemical [13], and chemical reduction approaches in the presence of various scaffolds, including polyelectrolyte [11], dendrimers [14], peptides [15], and DNA [16]. These methods usually involve complex processes or require expensive raw materials. Compared with the previous methods using DNA, polymers, or peptides as templates, SDS, as a common commercial surfactant, is much simpler and more economical
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