Rapid Sonochemical Synthesis of Luminescent and Paramagnetic Copper Nanoclusters for Bimodal Bioimaging

Herein, luminescent and magnetic copper nanoclusters (CuNCs) are synthesized by a one-pot sonochemical route using glutathione (GSH) as a reducing and stabilizing agent. The resultant CuNCs show red fluorescence and paramagnetic properties at room temperature. In addition, the as-prepared GSH-CuNCs are water-soluble, exhibit low toxicity, and have multifunctional surface chemistry due to the GSH protective layer. Folic acid (FA) was covalently anchored to the GSH-CuNCs, and the nanoprobes were used for highly selective, targeted fluorescent imaging (FI) of gastric cancer HeLa cells with laser scanning confocal microscopy. Finally, the as-prepared GSH-CuNCs could work as T-1 contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) due to their paramagnetic properties. These findings highlight the fascinating features of luminescent and magnetic CuNCs, which are a promising platform for bimodal MRI/FI of cancer cells.