Preparation and application of copper nanoclusters as a fluorescent sensor for sensitive detection of tartrazine

As an important way to detect tartrazine, a probe with excellent fluorescence properties is of great significance in fluorescence detection method. Copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs) was prepared by chemical reduction method, in which copper sulfate as metal body, folic acid as capping reagent and ascorbic acid as reducing agent. In the light of inner filter effect and static quenching mechanism, a fluorescence sensor for tartrazine measurement was designed based on Cu NCs with excellent selectivity. The spherical Cu NCs with uniform size emitted blue fluorescence at 443 nm when the excitation wavelength was located at 353 nm. Under the optimum detecting condition, the corresponding linear range and LOD were 0.5–50 μM and 0.071 μM, respectively. Coupled with pleasing recovery experiments in real samples, this as-proposed platform was very promising for tartrazine detection.