The presence of nickel in our water sources presents a danger to human health and aquatic organisms alike. Therefore, there is a need to detect and monitor nickel concentration in these sources. Current detection methods use instruments that are costly, resource intensive and require skilled personnel. Alternative methods that are simple and fast are needed. This study reports for the first time the development of a simple colorimetric assay for the detection of Ni 2+ in aqueous solution using citrate-stabilized silver nanoparticles. Chemical synthesis method was employed using sodium borohydride and trisodium citrate as reducing and stabilizing agents, respectively. The characterization techniques used for obtaining spectral and morphological properties were ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The resultant silver nanoparticle solution was yellow in color and exhibited an absorbance peak at 392 nm. The full width at half maximum value was 57.8 ± 1.3 nm indicating particle monodispersity. For the morphology, the nanoparticles were spherical in shape with an average size of 10.4 ± 4.5 nm. Furthermore, the colorimetric properties of the silver nanoparticles for Ni 2+ detection was investigated. Ni 2+ was visually detected through a fast solution color change from yellow to orange. Monitoring of the absorbance showed a decrease in the original 392 nm peak and broadening of the surface plasmon absorption band. These changes are attributed to the aggregation of the nanoparticles due to Ni 2+ addition which was confirmed by the transmission electron microscopy imaging. The absorption ratio (A 510 /A 392) was plotted against varying Ni 2+ concentration and it exhibited a good linear correlation from 0.7 to 1.6 mM with an R 2 of 0.9958. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.75 and 1.52 mM, respectively. Additionally, the assay was tested against other common ions and showed excellent selectivity for Ni 2+. Finally, the assay was successfully tested to detect Ni 2+ in tap water samples with an average difference of 16% from prepared concentrations. Overall, the study showed the potential of using citrate-stabilized silver nanoparticles as a colorimetric reagent for detecting Ni 2+ in aqueous solution.
Humic acid - functionalized silver nanoparticles (HA-AgNPs) were successfully synthesized and used to detect Cu (II) ions in aqueous solutions. The HA-AgNPs was shown to have an average hydrodynamic diameter of 101.4 nm and a polydispersity index of 0.447. The absorbance spectra of HA-AgNPs showed the characteristic local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peak of AgNPs at 408.3 nm. Addition of Cu (II) in the HA-AgNPs led to their agglomeration as evidenced by the change in their surface morphology and their corresponding optical absorbance spectra. The synthesized HA-AgNPs showed a strong linear response for Cu (II) concentrations in the range of 0.00 – 1.25 mM with a limit of detection (LoD) of 4.4428 ± 0.1091 mg L-1, a limit of quantification (LoQ) of 14.8094 ± 0.3636 mg L-1, and a limit of blank (LoB) of 0.1214 ± 0.0065 mg L-1. Statistical analysis showed that this calibration curve could be used to quantify Cu (II) concentrations within a 95% confidence level. Furthermore, HA-AgNPs was found to be selective for Cu (II) detection based on the selectivity study against common metal ions found in drinking water. This shows that the synthesized HA-AgNPs can be used as an environment-friendly colorimetric nanosensor for rapid and point-of-need quantification of Cu (II) ions in aqueous media.
In this study, the colorimetric performance of unmodified citrate-stabilized silver nanoparticles (cit-AgNP) for Cu2+ detection was investigated. Cit-AgNP was successfully synthesized using the modified Creighton method with sodium borohydride as reducing agent and trisodium citrate as stabilizing agent. The resulting nanoparticle was yellow in color, characteristic of AgNP. The absorbance peak was determined at 400 nm using UV Vis analysis while for morphology, the particles were spherical in shape with an average diameter of 11 nm determined by TEM analysis. In the presence of increasing Cu2+ concentration, the yellow cit-AgNP turned orange and showed decreasing absorbance at 400 nm with simultaneous emergence of additional peak at 450 nm. These changes were attributed to the nanoparticle aggregation confirmed by TEM analysis. A calibration curve generated showed that the absorbance ratio 450/400 nm is directly proportional to Cu2+ concentration from 0 to 40x10-4 M with good linear fit at R2 = 0.9749. The detection and quantification limits were determined to be 6.59x10-4 M and 21.97x10-4 M, respectively. Overall, the study demonstrated the potential of the assay for Cu2+ sensing application.
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