Synthesis of Luminescent Gold Nanoclusters Embedded Goose Feathers for Facile Preparation of Au(I) Complexes with Aggregation-Induced Emission

A new kind of luminescent hybrid materials based on ultrasmall nanomaterials, that is, gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) and goose feathers, precious gifts from nature, has been successfully synthesized. Goose feathers possess high specific surface area due to their hierarchical structure and are mainly composed of thiol-rich proteins, for example, keratin, which can reduce Au(III) and encapsulate the formed AuNCs in a large scale. The resultant golden feathers exhibit bright red luminescence under UV light, of which the substructures, that is, barbs and barbules, have been sufficiently stained with red-emitting AuNCs. Furthermore, the AuNC-stained feathers maintain almost unchanged structure (solid and hierarchical) and intact chemical composition. The features of such AuNC/feather hybrids, for example, bulk, high specific surface, inspired us to develop a facile method to prepare various valuable debris from AuNC-based etching, that is, Au(I) complexes with aggregation-induced emission (AIE). We selected tris(2...