Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Luminescent, Freestanding Composite Films of Au 15 for Specific Metal Ion Sensing

2012; American Chemical Society; Volume: 4; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1021/am201292a

1944-8252

Anu George, Edakkattuparambil Sidharth Shibu, Shihabudheen M. Maliyekkal, Megalamane S. Bootharaju, Thalappil Pradeep,

Carbon and Quantum Dots Applications

A highly luminescent freestanding film composed of the quantum cluster, Au(15), was prepared. We studied the utility of the material for specific metal ion detection. The sensitivity of the red emission of the cluster in the composite to Cu(2+) has been used to make a freestanding metal ion sensor, similar to pH paper. The luminescence of the film was stable when exposed to several other metal ions such as Hg(2+), As(3+), and As(5+). The composite film exhibited visual sensitivity to Cu(2+) up to 1 ppm, which is below the permissible limit (1.3 ppm) in drinking water set by the U.S. environmental protection agency (EPA). The specificity of the film for Cu(2+) sensing may be due to the reduction of Cu(2+) to Cu(1+)/Cu(0) by the glutathione ligand or the Au(15) core. Extended stability of the luminescence of the film makes it useful for practical applications.