Fluorescence quenching of fluoroquinolones by gold nanoparticles with different sizes and its analytical application

The interaction of some fluoroquinolones including norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, danofloxacin and ofloxacin with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) of different sizes (8, 20 and 75 nm) was studied. In the studied systems, fluoroquinolones are noncovalently adsorbed onto the surface of AuNPs, which results in severe quenching of fluoroquinolones fluorescence possibly as a result of fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Stern–Volmer quenching constants were obtained and found to increase with an increase in the size of AuNPs. Moreover, the interactions between some thiols and fluoroquinolone-adsorbed AuNPs were investigated to explore the analytical applicability of the systems. It was found that upon the addition of thiols to fluoroquinolone-AuNPs systems the fluorescence of fluoroquinolones switches to “turn-on” due to the strong binding of thiols to AuNPs and removal of quinolines from NP surface. Under the optimum conditions, the fluorescence enhancement showed a linear relationship with the concentration of thiols, indicating the analytical usefulness of the system.