Synthesis of Starch-Stabilized Ag Nanoparticles and Hg2+ Recognition in Aqueous Media

Abstract

The starch-stabilized Ag nanoparticles were successfully synthesized via a reduction approach and characterized with SPR UV/Vis spectroscopy, TEM, and HRTEM. By utilizing the redox reaction between Ag nanoparticles and Hg2+, and the resulted decrease in UV/Vis signal, we develop a colorimetric method for detection of Hg2+ ion. A linear relationship stands between the absorbance intensity of the Ag nanoparticles and the concentration of Hg2+ ion over the range from 10 ppb to 1 ppm at the absorption of 390 nm. The detection limit for Hg2+ ions in homogeneous aqueous solutions is estimated to be ~5 ppb. This system shows excellent selectivity for Hg2+ over other metal ions including Na+, K+, Ba2+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe3+, and Cd2+. The results shown herein have potential implications in the development of new colorimetric sensors for easy and selective detection and monitoring of mercuric ions in aqueous solutions. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11671-009-9387-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.