One-pot green synthesis of highly fluorescent glutathione-stabilized copper nanoclusters for Fe3+ sensing

Herein, we reported a simple one-pot green method for preparation of fluorescent copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs) with a high quantum yield up to 8.6%, using glutathione as the stabilizing agent. The as-prepared Cu NCs had good water solubility, excellent stability and ultrafine size through the characterization of UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Experimental results showed that the fluorescence of Cu NCs was linearly quenched by the Fe 3+ concentrations in the range of 1–100   μM, with the detection limit of 0.3   μM. The as-formed Cu NCs were explored for the assay of Fe 3+ in real water samples.