A highly selective fluorescent sensor for chlortetracycline based on histidine-templated copper nanoclusters

In this study, histidine-protected copper nanoclusters (Cu [email protected]) were established by using a one-pot method, which histidine and ascorbic acid were applied as the template and reducing agent, respectively. The as-developed Cu [email protected] endued green emission wavelength at 494 nm with the excitation of 378 nm. The Cu [email protected] exhibited green fluorescence under UV light (365 nm). Using Cu [email protected] as a pattern nanosensor, the fluorescent "turn off" mechanism was fabricated for the determination of chlortetracycline in the light of the linear decrease of fluorescence intensities around 494 nm. The chlortetracycline conducted as a quencher, leading to reveal an excellent linear relationship between ln(F0/F) of Cu [email protected] and chlortetracycline concentrations with the range of 0.5–200 μM, and the detection limit was 0.876 μM. The fluorescence quenching of Cu [email protected] revealed excellent selectivity for chlortetracycline over other potential interfering substances in the human body. This strategy was exhibited to be a convenient sensing platform for the detection of chlortetracycline in real medical samples, which could unfold a brand new and direct system for the sensing of chlortetracycline in real samples.