Novel luteolin sensor of tannic acid-stabilized copper nanoclusters with blue-emitting fluorescence

In this work, the fluorescent copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs) were firstly adopted to detect luteolin with excellent performance. The blue-emitting Cu NCs was successfully prepared through a facile one-pot approach by protection of tannic acid (TA) and chemical reduction of ascorbic acid (AA). The water-soluble nanoclusters possessed uniform size and displayed good stability. The TA-Cu NCs showed maximum luminescence at 434 nm when excited at 366 nm. Based on the static quenching and inner filter effect (IFE) mechanism, the TA-Cu NCs was efficiently and selectively quenched by luteolin. The detection limit was 0.12 mu M and linear relationship existed in the range of 0.2-100 mu M. Moreover, the TA-Cu NCs probe was successfully employed to detect luteolin in bovine serum samples with satisfactory recoveries. This novel platform was expected to expand the possible detection method based on fluorescence properties. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Fluorescent copper nanoclusters were utilized for the detection of luteolin with excellent performance. The water-soluble Cu NCs, prepared through a facile method, showed good stability and efficient selective quenching by luteolin.