Abstract
A novel luminescent turn-on detection method for Hg(II) was developed. The method was based on the silver nanoparticle (AgNP)-mediated quenching of Ir(III) complex 1. The addition of Hg(II) ions causes the luminescence of complex 1 to be recovered due to the oxidation of AgNPs by Hg(II) ions to form Ag(I) and Ag/Hg amalgam. The luminescence intensity of 1 increased in accord with an increased Hg(II) concentration ranging from 0 nM to 180 nM, with the detection limit of 5 nM. This approach offers an innovative method for the quantification of Hg(II).
Highlights
Heavy metal contamination is a serious hazard to human health and the environment[1,2,3]
The elemental Hg formed interacts with the surface of AgNPs, followed by yielding the amalgam particles that eject the citrate molecules from their surface, which reduces the negative charge on the surface of AgNPs
We anticipated that the high quenching efficiency of AgNPs could improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the system when used to determine the concentration of a target analyte[41]
Summary
Heavy metal contamination is a serious hazard to human health and the environment[1,2,3]. Pioneer studies have reported many luminescent probes, including organic molecules[19], quantum dots (QDs)[20], and metal nanoclusters[21, 22] for the detection of Hg(II). Most of these methods show drawbacks, including poor selectivity and sensitivity, complicated synthetic procedures, low stability in aqueous media and a turn-off signal output[20,21,22], leading to strong desire of developing alternative approaches. The degree to which the luminescence is recovered is proportional to the Hg(II) ion concentration, allowing the accurate determination of Hg(II) ion concentration
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