Facile Synthesis of Water-Dispersed Photoluminescent Gold(I)-Alkanethiolate Nanoparticles via Aggregation-Induced Emission and Their Application in Cell Imaging

Gold(I)-alkanethiolates could assemble themselves into highly ordered nanostructures, however, they could not be dissolved or dispersed in various common solvents. Here, a novel and facile method of synthesizing water-dispersed luminescent Au(I)-alkanethiolate nanoparticles via aggregation-induced emission is reported for the first time. With the aid of two surfactants (didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB) and tween 80), the luminescent gold nanoparticles possess excellent water dispersion stability. Besides, they exhibit a large Stokes shift (24278 cm(-1)), red emission, high quantum yield (50.7%) and extraordinary stability toward pH, salts, redox agents (NaBH4, Na2S, cysteine and H2O2) and light irradiation. The luminescent gold nanoparticles are also used for cell imaging successfully.