The dark states of DNA stabilized silver clusters are extensively used for upconversion fluorescence enhancement. This work probed the triplet state saturation of the violet-, green- and red-emitting Ag N-DNA complexes through intersystem crossing rate constant DFT calculations. Our computations showed that DNA significantly affects the electronic structure of Ag 3 + 1 and Ag 4 +2 clusters. It dramatically increases the ISC constants from value ca. ∼10 4 s −1 for free clusters up to ca. ∼10 8 s −1 for clusters bound to nucleobases. The results indicate that silver clusters in complex with DNA can actively transition to the triplet state upon excitation, ISC process can compete with fluorescence.

Original languageEnglish
Article number140081
JournalChemical Physics Letters
Volume807
Early online date29 Sep 2022
DOIs
StatePublished - 16 Nov 2022

    Research areas

  • DFT, DNA, Intersystem crossing rates, Silver clusters, Triplet state

    Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy(all)
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

ID: 98995215