pH-Induced transformation of ligated Au25 to brighter Au23 nanoclusters

Magdalena Waszkielewicz, Joanna Olesiak-Banska*, Clothilde Comby-Zerbino, Franck Bertorelle, Xavier Dagany, Ashu K. Bansal, Muhammad T. Sajjad, Ifor D. W. Samuel, Zeljka Sanader, Miroslawa Rozycka, Magdalena Wojtas, Katarzyna Matczyszyn, Vlasta Bonacic-Koutecky, Rodolphe Antoine, Andrzej Ozyhar, Marek Samoc

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Thiolate-protected gold nanoclusters have recently attracted considerable attention due to their size-dependent luminescence characterized by a long lifetime and large Stokes shift. However, the optimization of nanocluster properties such as the luminescence quantum yield is still a challenge. We report here the transformation of Au25Capt18 (Capt labels captopril) nanoclusters occurring at low pH and yielding a product with a much increased luminescence quantum yield which we have identified as Au23Capt17. We applied a simple method of treatment with HCl to accomplish this transformation and we characterized the absorption and emission of the newly created ligated nanoclusters as well as their morphology. Based on DFT calculations we show which Au nanocluster size transformations can lead to highly luminescent species such as Au23Capt17.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)11335-11341
Number of pages7
JournalNanoscale
Volume10
Issue number24
Early online date4 Apr 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Jun 2018

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