Engineering amino-mediated copper nanoclusters with dual emission and assembly-to-monodispersion switching by pH-triggered surface modulation

Abstract

Herein we report L-cysteine (Cys)-mediated copper nanoclusters (CuNCs) with assembly-to-monodispersion switching by pH-triggered surface modulation. Aggregated red emissive (R)-CuNCs@Cys at pH = 3 turns to monodispersed blue emissive (B)-CuNCs@Cys at pH = 10, due to the change from weak electrostatic interactions to strong Cu–N bonds that play a decisive role.