Fluorescent Ag nanoclusters prepared in aqueous poly(acrylic acid-co-maleic acid) solutions: a spectroscopic study of their excited state dynamics, size and local environment

Stable, fluorescent Ag nanoclusters were prepared in aqueous solutions of Na(+) salt of the carboxylate-rich polymer poly(acrylic acid-co-maleic acid) under brief spells of UV irradiation. The nanoclusters were nearly spherical, with diameters within 1.90 ± 0.50 nm, but displayed a prominent red edge excitation shift (REES) of fluorescence upon exciting within the visible absorption band, indicating heterogeneity of energy level distributions. Spectroscopic studies revealed that irrespective of whether the nanoclusters are excited in their UV or visible absorption bands, their fluorescence always ensues from the same manifold of emissive states, with a broad range of fluorescence lifetimes from ∼150 fs to 1 ns.