Premium
Selective Tellurium Nanowire‐based Sensors for Mercury(II) in Aqueous Solution
Author(s) -
Wei TsaoYen,
Chang HsinYun,
Lee YenFei,
Hunga YuLun,
Huang ChihChing
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of the chinese chemical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.329
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 2192-6549
pISSN - 0009-4536
DOI - 10.1002/jccs.201190115
Subject(s) - chemistry , tellurium , detection limit , aqueous solution , mercury (programming language) , analytical chemistry (journal) , tap water , metal ions in aqueous solution , nanowire , ion , dissolution , inorganic chemistry , nanotechnology , chromatography , materials science , organic chemistry , environmental engineering , computer science , engineering , programming language
Abstract We have developed a simple, colorimetric, and label‐free tellurium nanowire (Te NW)‐based probe for the detection of mercury ions (Hg(II)) in aqueous solution, operating on the principle of strong hybridization and galvanic replacement reaction of Te–Hg. The Te NWs (length: 920 nm; diameter: 20 nm) reacted with Hg(II) to induce dissolution and aggregation of the Te NWs. As a result, the absorption band of the Te NWs in a solution undergoes a decrease in the presence of Hg(II). Energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy and surface‐assisted laser desorption/ionization measurements demonstrated the presence of Hg on the Te NWs. The Te NW probe specifically and sensitively detected Hg(II) ions under optimal concentrations of pH, temperature, and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) concentration. When using a mixture of Te NWs (3.0 nM) and SDS (5 μM) in 5 mM sodium phosphate (pH 4) at 50 °C, this sensor provides a limit of detection of 0.5 nM for Hg(II) (signal‐to‐noise ratio of 3) with high selectivity (at least 100 fold over other metal ions). Our approach abrogates the need for complicated chemosensors or sophisticated equipment. This cost‐effective sensing system allows the rapid and simple determination of the concentrations of Hg(II) ions in real samples (in this case, river, lake, and tap water samples).