In situ synthesis of red emissive copper nanoclusters in supramolecular hydrogels

Abstract

We report a simple and environmentally friendly method for the in situ synthesis of red emissive Cu nanoclusters (NCs) in supramolecular hydrogels via employing a series of bile acid derivatives (BAs) as pre-gelators. The encapsulated Cu NCs demonstrated excellent catalytic performance in the methylene blue (MB)–hydrazine (N2H4) reduction system.