Synthesis of silver nanoclusters by irradiation reduction and detection of Cr(3+) ions

In our work, a simple and fast synthesis method is provided to synthesize silver nanoclusters (AgNCs). In this method, with using polyacrylic acid (PAA) as a template, the silver ions were reduced to silver nanoclusters by irradiation reduction at room temperature. The prepared silver nanoclusters (PAA–AgNCs) with average particle size of 1.98 ± 0.79 nm have a fluorescence property, and their physical and chemical properties can be controlled by absorbed dose, PAA/Ag(+) mole ratio and other factors. The fluorescence stability of the PAA–AgNCs is good, and it is unique in that the fluorescence emission of the s PAA–AgNCs depends on the excitation wavelength. In addition, based on the fluorescence quenching phenomenon of PAA–AgNCs in the presence of Cr(3+) ion, we established a simple and efficient method for the detection of Cr(3+) ion by using PAA–AgNCs as fluorescent probes.