Chemical Synthesis of Bimetallic Ag/Co Nanoparticles for Colorimetric Detection of Cr3+ and Fe3+ and Its Catalytic Performance

Abstract

Precious metal nanoparticles, especially Ag-based nanoparticles due to their strong surface plasma effect and excellent catalytic performance, have been widely applied in environmental remediation and detection of heavy metal ions in aqueous solution. In this study, first, bimetallic Ag/Co nanoparticles (Ag/Co NPs) modified by sodium citrate were synthesized by chemical reduction method. Second, bimetallic Ag/Co NPs were used as colorimetric probe for detecting [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] in aqueous solution simultaneously for the first time. The results showed that the probe had high specificity towards [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] among the tested metal ions. When [Formula: see text] was mixed with Ag/Co NPs, the solution quickly changed from yellow to pink, meanwhile, the UV–Vis absorption intensity declined at 400[Formula: see text]nm and a new prominent absorption band was formed at 530[Formula: see text]nm. While [Formula: see text] was mixed with Ag/Co NPs, the solution quickly changed from yellow to nearly colorless. The linear relationship between absorbance of bimetallic Ag/Co NPs at 400[Formula: see text]nm and −log of [Formula: see text] concentration is 1[Formula: see text]nM to 10[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]M, which [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. The limit of detection (LOD) for this study was 1.14[Formula: see text]nM. Similar to [Formula: see text], the LOD for [Formula: see text] was calculated 16.3[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]M. In addition, the catalytic performance of bimetallic Ag/Co NPs was evaluated by methylene blue (MB) in the presence of H2O2. The catalytic degradation efficiency of bimetallic Ag/Co NPs was about 4.8 times greater than monometallic Ag NPs, confirming Ag and Co NPs had obviously synergistic effect. Therefore, this result made bimetallic Ag/Co NPs had potential application in the field of environmental remediation.