Luminescent Gold Nanoparticles with Mixed Valence States Generated from Dissociation of Polymeric Au(I) Thiolates

Abstract

Dissociation process of glutathione-gold(I) polymers in aqueous solution resulted in the formation of a class of ~2 nm gold nanoparticles. Different from the same sized but NaBH4 reduced gold nanoparticles, these nanoparticles exhibit strong luminescence but no surface plasmon absorption. Luminescence lifetimes of the nanoparticles were found strongly dependent on excitation wavelengths, and singlet and triplet excited states involving the emission were found degenerate in energy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic studies showed that nearly 40~50% gold atoms in the luminescent nanoparticles were in gold(I) state, which are responsible for the unique optical properties of the luminescent gold nanoparticles. These luminescent nanoparticles can be considered an intermediate state between luminescent gold(I) complexes and reduced nonluminescent gold nanoparticles.

Facile preparation of glutathione-stabilized gold nanoclusters for selective determination of chromium (III) and chromium (VI) in environmental water samples

“…S1C). In contrast to previously reported methods [16,[22][23][24], this method is more rapid, which could be the effect of higher temperature. The higher pH could also be more beneficial to the reducing ability of glutathione, similar as the behavior of bovine serum albumin [25].…”

Multivalent Glycosylation of Fluorescent Gold Nanoclusters Promotes Increased Human Dendritic Cell Targeting via Multiple Endocytic Pathways

“…The short nanosecond range lifetime is usually associated with singlet excited states originating from metal-metal interactions. On the other hand, the long microsecond range lifetime component is typical of triplet excited states 43,57 . This extended high energy state is of interest for analytical applications due to its high sensitivity to the local environment.…”

A facile one-pot synthesis of blue and red luminescent thiol stabilized gold nanoclusters: a thorough optical and microscopy study

“…The transient absorption of the AuNPs and AuNC was previously studied. [36][37][38] The time evolution of the transient absorption spectra of the excited-state relaxation dynamics of bare AuNC following an excitation at 387 nm is depicted in Fig. 8.…”