Fluorescence turn on detection of bilirubin using Fe (III) modulated BSA stabilized copper nanocluster; A mechanistic perception

Hyperbilirubinemia is the condition when bilirubin exceeds normal concentration in body (19.80 mg/mL in newborns and 1.19 × 10−2 mg/mL in adults). Bilirubin encephalopathy in newborns may cause irreversible neurological disorders. Current methods for detection of bilirubin suffer from compromising accuracy. In the present work, bovine serum albumin stabilized copper nanocluster (BSA-CuNCs) was synthesized via a one pot microwave assisted method as a turn on detector for bilirubin. The synthesized BSA-CuNCs having size less than 4 nm, exhibited bright blue emission at 405 nm. Interestingly, no observable change in fluorescence emission was noticed over a wide pH range (1–11) or at high ionic conditions. However, the interaction of Fe3+ with BSA-CuNCs induces quenching of fluorescence. Moreover, the fluorescence can be regained by the addition of bilirubin over other possible coexisting biomolecules. A good linearity was observed for BSA-CuNCs based turn on probe with a Limit of Detection (LoD) 6.62 nM. Furthermore, real sample analyses were carried out with human serum and urine which showed good recovery percentage.