Facile Synthesis of Ultrastable Fluorescent Copper Nanoclusters and Their Cellular Imaging Application
Copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs) are generally formed by several to dozens of atoms. Because of wide range of raw materials and cheap prices, Cu NCs have attracted scientists’ special attention. However, Cu NCs tend to undergo oxidation easily. Thus, there is a dire need to develop a synthetic protocol...
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MDPI AG
2020-08-01
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| Series: | Nanomaterials |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/10/9/1678 |
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| author | Wei Yan Jianqiao Zhang Muhammad Abbas Yulian Li Syed Zajif Hussain Shazia Mumtaz Zhengwei Song Irshad Hussain Bien Tan |
| author_facet | Wei Yan Jianqiao Zhang Muhammad Abbas Yulian Li Syed Zajif Hussain Shazia Mumtaz Zhengwei Song Irshad Hussain Bien Tan |
| author_sort | Wei Yan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs) are generally formed by several to dozens of atoms. Because of wide range of raw materials and cheap prices, Cu NCs have attracted scientists’ special attention. However, Cu NCs tend to undergo oxidation easily. Thus, there is a dire need to develop a synthetic protocol for preparing fluorescent Cu NCs with high QY and better stability. Herein, we report a one-step method for preparing stable blue-green fluorescent copper nanoclusters using glutathione (GSH) as both a reducing agent and a stabilizing agent. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometer (ESI-MS) were used to characterize the resulting Cu NCs. The as-prepared Cu NCs@GSH possess an ultrasmall size (2.3 ± 0.4 nm), blue-green fluorescence with decent quantum yield (6.2%) and good stability. MTT results clearly suggest that the Cu NCs@GSH are biocompatible. After incubated with EB-labeled HEK293T cells, the Cu NCs mainly accumulated in nuclei of the cells, suggesting that the as-prepared Cu NCs could potentially be used as the fluorescent probe for applications in cellular imaging. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:47:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-32e9126e9b7b47feabcffb3aa6cc22b4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-4991 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:47:35Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nanomaterials |
| spelling | doaj.art-32e9126e9b7b47feabcffb3aa6cc22b42023-11-20T11:29:39ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912020-08-01109167810.3390/nano10091678Facile Synthesis of Ultrastable Fluorescent Copper Nanoclusters and Their Cellular Imaging ApplicationWei Yan0Jianqiao Zhang1Muhammad Abbas2Yulian Li3Syed Zajif Hussain4Shazia Mumtaz5Zhengwei Song6Irshad Hussain7Bien Tan8Ministry-of-Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Hubei Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, ChinaKey Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, ChinaDepartment of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, SBA School of Science & Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences(LUMS), Lahore 54792, PakistanKey Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, ChinaDepartment of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, SBA School of Science & Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences(LUMS), Lahore 54792, PakistanDepartment of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, SBA School of Science & Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences(LUMS), Lahore 54792, PakistanMinistry-of-Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Hubei Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, ChinaDepartment of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, SBA School of Science & Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences(LUMS), Lahore 54792, PakistanKey Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, ChinaCopper nanoclusters (Cu NCs) are generally formed by several to dozens of atoms. Because of wide range of raw materials and cheap prices, Cu NCs have attracted scientists’ special attention. However, Cu NCs tend to undergo oxidation easily. Thus, there is a dire need to develop a synthetic protocol for preparing fluorescent Cu NCs with high QY and better stability. Herein, we report a one-step method for preparing stable blue-green fluorescent copper nanoclusters using glutathione (GSH) as both a reducing agent and a stabilizing agent. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometer (ESI-MS) were used to characterize the resulting Cu NCs. The as-prepared Cu NCs@GSH possess an ultrasmall size (2.3 ± 0.4 nm), blue-green fluorescence with decent quantum yield (6.2%) and good stability. MTT results clearly suggest that the Cu NCs@GSH are biocompatible. After incubated with EB-labeled HEK293T cells, the Cu NCs mainly accumulated in nuclei of the cells, suggesting that the as-prepared Cu NCs could potentially be used as the fluorescent probe for applications in cellular imaging.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/10/9/1678copper nanoclustersglutathionecellular imagingfluorescence |
| spellingShingle | Wei Yan Jianqiao Zhang Muhammad Abbas Yulian Li Syed Zajif Hussain Shazia Mumtaz Zhengwei Song Irshad Hussain Bien Tan Facile Synthesis of Ultrastable Fluorescent Copper Nanoclusters and Their Cellular Imaging Application Nanomaterials copper nanoclusters glutathione cellular imaging fluorescence |
| title | Facile Synthesis of Ultrastable Fluorescent Copper Nanoclusters and Their Cellular Imaging Application |
| title_full | Facile Synthesis of Ultrastable Fluorescent Copper Nanoclusters and Their Cellular Imaging Application |
| title_fullStr | Facile Synthesis of Ultrastable Fluorescent Copper Nanoclusters and Their Cellular Imaging Application |
| title_full_unstemmed | Facile Synthesis of Ultrastable Fluorescent Copper Nanoclusters and Their Cellular Imaging Application |
| title_short | Facile Synthesis of Ultrastable Fluorescent Copper Nanoclusters and Their Cellular Imaging Application |
| title_sort | facile synthesis of ultrastable fluorescent copper nanoclusters and their cellular imaging application |
| topic | copper nanoclusters glutathione cellular imaging fluorescence |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/10/9/1678 |
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