Fluorescence Detection of p-Nitrophenol in Water Using Bovine Serum Albumin Capped ag Nanoclusters

We developed a sensitive and selective method for detection of 4-Nitrophenol (PNP) using Ag nanoclusters (NCs) as fluorescence probe. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as the template for preparing Ag NCs via wet chemistry. The fluorescence of as-prepared Ag NCs was significantly quenched in the presence of PNP, showing excellent linear relationships between the quenching degree of the fluorescence intensity and the concentrations of PNP in the range of 0.5 μM to 60 μM. The fluorescence quenching mechanism was also investigated. Furthermore, this method was applied for the recognition of PNP in environmental samples.