A “turn-on” carbon nanotube–Ag nanoclusters fluorescent sensor for sensitive and selective detection of Hg2+ with cyclic amplification of exonuclease III activity

Abstract

With exonuclease III activity on DNA hybrids containing thymine–Hg²⁺–thymine, a label-free ultrasensitive “turn-on” fluorescent sensor involving “quenching” and “reappearing” processes based on a carbon nanotube–Ag nanoclusters system is demonstrated for amplified determination of Hg²⁺.