Temperature dependent excited state relaxation of a red emitting DNA-templated silver nanocluster

The nanosecond excited state temporal and spectral relaxation of a purified, red-emitting DNA-templated silver nanocluster (DNA–AgNC) was characterized as a function of temperature. The findings are explained by introducing a phenomenological electronic structure diagram. The reproducibility and cyclability of the average decay time opens up the possibility of using DNA–AgNCs for decay time-based nanothermometry.