荧光金纳米团簇在小分子化合物检测中的应用

Application of Fluorescent Gold Nanoclusters for the Determination of Small Molecules

金纳米团簇(gold nanoclusters,Au NCs)是一种新型的荧光纳米材料,由几个到几百个原子组成,尺寸接近于电子的费米波长。由于量子尺寸效应,金纳米团簇显示出独特的光学特性。荧光金纳米团簇具有尺寸小、水溶性好、光物理性质好、比表面积大、表面易于修饰以及荧光性质随尺寸可调等优点,是近年来的研究热点。通过改变配体或者生物支架合成的各种荧光金纳米团簇,在传感检测、纳米标记、医学成像和光电子学等领域具有潜在的应用前景。作为新型荧光探针,荧光金纳米团簇已成功用于对阳离子、阴离子及重要的生物活性物质如过氧化氢、葡萄糖、谷胱甘肽、三磷酸腺苷、氨基酸等小分子化合物的检测。本文结合当前的研究现状,介绍了金纳米团簇在小分子化合物荧光检测中的应用,并简要评述了金纳米团簇研究中所面临的挑战及应用前景。

Gold nanoclusters are composed of several to a hundred atoms. As a kind of fluorescent materials, gold nanoclusters have recently attracted significant attention because they provide the link between atom and nanoparticle. Gold nanoclusters exhibit unique optical properties due to quantum effect as their sizes are close to the Femi wavelength of electrons. Fluorescent gold nanoclusters have attractive characteristics such as small size, good water solubility, remarkable photophysical properties, large surface area, and facile surface modification. Recently, a variety of synthesis approaches for the preparation of water-soluble fluorescent gold nanoclusters have been developed, which significantly facilitate the understanding of their properties and applications. It has been proven that the fluorescent properties of gold nanoclusters could be adjustable by using suitable ligands and biocompatible scaffolds. Until now, fluorescence gold nanoclusters have shown potential applications in the fields of biosensors, nano-labeling, molecular imaging and optoelectronics. As a novel class of fluorescent probe, fluorescent gold nanoclusters have been used for the sensing of small molecules. In this review, we highlight the recent advances in fluorescene determination of metal ions, anions, and the biological organic molecules including hydrogen peroxide, glucose, glutathione, adenosine triphosphate, and amino acids. The current challenges and future perspectives in this research area are also outlined.