“Turn-on” and pinhole-free ultrathin core–shell Au@SiO2 nanoparticle-based metal-enhanced fluorescent (MEF) chemodosimeter for Hg2+

Abstract

This study reports a metal-enhanced fluorescence chemodosimeter for highly sensitive detection of Hg²⁺ ions. Silica-coated Au nanoparticles (Au@SiO₂ NPs) with a pinhole-free 4–5 nm shell were synthesized and functionalized with a monolayer of turn-on fluorescent probes. Compared to other organic fluorescent probes suffering from poor biocompatibility and detection limits, this design of a monolayer of turn-on fluorescent probes immobilized on the Au@SiO₂ NPs with a pinhole-free 4–5 nm shell avoids fluorescence quenching and allows the fluorescent probe within the field of the inner Au NPs to experience metal-enhanced fluorescence. With this design, the chemodosimeter permits fluorescence emission in the presence of Hg²⁺ ions, because they trigger the ring-opening reaction of the fluorescent probe immobilized on the Au@SiO₂ NPs. Additionally, the fluorescent probe is distanced by the thin SiO₂ shell from directly attaching to the metallic Au NPs, which not only avoids fluorescence quenching but allows the fluorescent probe within the long-ranged field of the inner Au NPs to experience metal-enhanced fluorescence. As a result, the detection limit for the chemodosimeter can reach up to 5.0 × 10⁻¹¹ M, nearly two orders of magnitude higher than that achieved for the free fluorescent probe. We also demonstrate the acquisition of images of Hg²⁺ in HTC116 cells and zebrafish using a simple fluorescence confocal imaging technique. The fluorescence response results for HTC116 cells and zebrafish show that the probes can permeate into cells and organisms. Considering the availability of the many organic fluorescent probes that have been designed, the current designed metal-enhanced fluorescence chemodosimeter holds great potential for fluorescence detection of diverse species and fluorescence imaging.